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THE SECOND WIFE 

A ROMANCE 

I 

PROM THE GERMAN /^7 



E. MARLITT 

AUTHOR OP “ TH» OLD MAM’SELLE’S SECRET,” “ GOLD ELSIE,” “ THB LITTLE 
KOOBLAlfD PRINCESS.” “COUNTESS OI8ELA,” BTO. 

".."-A. 


BY MRS. A. L. WISTER 




> > 
> ) > 



\ 

n 


PHILADELPHIA . 


J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. 

1902 . 



THP LI8«ARY of 
CONGKESa 
Two Copies 8KCE(veo 

MAR. 28 1902 

COPVWOHT l!NTKV 

CLASS ^ XXa No. 

-^^*7^3 

COPY A. 


TZ^i 

**~vJ (o I S 


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Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, bv 
T B. LIPPINCOTT A CO- / 

In the Ofiice of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 


Copyrifjht, 1902, by A. L. WISTER. 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


CHAPTER I. 

High in the clear blue sky a dark spot was poised motion 
less above the waters of the little lake. The smooth sheet 
swarmed with fish, — it lay there usually so lonely and defence- 
less, — the giant trees upon its shore were powerless to prevent 
the gray-feathered thief from darting suddenly down out of 
the blue air and pouncing upon its scaly inhabitants. But 
to-day he did not venture down, for there were people standing 
about, old and young, and the young shouted and danced, 
and in childish glee tossed their balls up at him; horses 
neighed and stamped upon the grassy banks, and clouds of 
smoke curled up through the tops of the trees and stretched 
wavering arms to heaven. Human voices and smoke were too 
much for the sly depredator, too much for the sailor of the 
crystal ether ; he circled wildly about, and at last vanished, 
as if blown away like an air-bubble, while a shrill, childish 
hurrah was shouted after him. 

On the left bank of the lake there was a little fishing-village, 
eight scattered cottages, so low that their straw-thatched roofs 
scarcely touched the low-hanging boughs of the lindens — cen- 
turies old — that overshadowed them. With rods and nets 
hanging upon their walls, small benches beside their doors, 
and flanked on the south by hedges of hawthorn and dog-roses, 
tliey formed a picturesque group upon the pebbly beach of the 

1 * 6 


6 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


lake. There was nothing to suggest the thick-set East I ries* 
land fisherman, and it was well that the huge park, with its 
wide stretches of forest, entirely concealed the little capital 
beyond it ; everything seemed rustic and rural, until one ol 
the low cottage doors opened. 

If the German prince had known that Le Petit Trianon, in- 
nocent as it seemed, would cost the brilliant queen of France 
her head, this little fishing-village would certainly never have 
been built; but his was no prophetic soul, and accordingly 
this graceful imitation had been standing on the shore of the 
lake, in the royal park here, for nearly a hundred years ; with- 
out, a primitive idyll, within, a toy for the most petted and 
spoiled of mortals. The foot, fresh from the sandy beach, 
stepped directly upon Persian carpets, and the walls were draped 
with silk where they were not hung with mirrors. The outer 
walls might mimic poverty and simplicity, but surely it was 
impossible to eat from deal tables, or to rest from play upon 
wooden benches. 

The royal family, to one of whose scions the fishing-village 
owed its existence, had for centuries adhered to the custom by 
which each heir to the throne was required, in the eighth year 
of his age, to plant a linden-tree. The meadow on the left 
shore of the little lake was called the Maienfest, and had be 
come somewhat of a historic curiosity, a royal record. Seldom 
had one of these prince-planted trees perished ; there was a 
goodly group on the Maienfest, sturdy giants in armour of grya 
bark, brandishing in the face of heaven their mighty shields 
of greenery, protecting the weaklings among their descendants, 
for such there were in spite of princely planting ; nature heeds 
no length of mortal pedigree. 

To-day, in the month of May, the crown-prince Frederick 
was to perform the mighty deed. Of course the court and 
the loyal capital celebrated the occasion in the manner pre- 
scribed bv ancient custom. Various children of rank were 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


7 


invited to the festival, while those less fortunate, for whom 
there was no coronet in prospect, drove out with their parents 
to look on and see how a real prince handled a spade. Behind 
the mass of carriages swarmed a crowd of the populace; and 
boys, unchecked, climbed into the surrounding trees, to secure 
a good view. 

There was a twofold significance in to-day’s festivities ; for 
just eighteen months before, the ruler of the country, the 
father of the crown-prince, had died, and his widow now for 
the first time laid aside her mourning. 

She stood beside the linden that had just been planted; 
no one could be for an instant mistaken in her as the mistress 
of all about her. She was dressed in white, with a spray of 
pale wild-r-oses stuck in her belt, and from the pink lining of 
the parasol that she held above her uncovered head a faint 
rosy reflection was cast upon her face, upon a delicate short 
nose jnd full-formed though rather colourless lips. The 
manifest irregularity of outline beneath the masses of black 
hair, the dark shadows around the eyes, and the waxy, inani- 
mate hue of the complexion which one involuntarily connects 
with a passionate temperament, lent her face something of the 
Spanish creole type, although assuredly there did not run one 
drop of the blood of that race in the veins of the German 
princess. 

She followed the flight of the heron as fixedly as did the 
children, who gave another loud hurrah as he disappeared. 

“You did not shout this time either, Gabriel,” a little boy 
said, angrily, to another, taller than himself, beside him, whose 
plain white linen suit contrasted oddly with the rich dresses 
of the children among whom he stood. 

He made no reply, but cast down his eyes, whereat his 
young questioner fell into a rage. 

“You ought to be ashamed of yourself, — before all the 
others, too I Shout, hurrah, this instant ; we are all going 


8 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


to do it again,” he ordered, and encouraged at the same 
time. 

The boy in white turned away, embarrassed, and would have 
left the spot where he was standing, when the other raised a 
whip he held in his hand and struck him full in the face. 

The crowd of children scattered in all directions. The little 
angry figure stood there alone for one moment, an ideally 
handsome child, dressed in green velvet, with magnificent 
brown curls, a perfect picture of vigour and distinction ; the 
crown-prince and his brother, with all their childish retinue, 
were no match for him. 

His governess came hurrying up to him, pale with conster 
nation ; but the duchess had already taken hold of the little 
clenched fist. 

“ That was not pretty, Leo,” she said ; but the tone of her 
voice had more of tenderness than of reproach in it. 

The child snatched away his hand from the clasp of the 
velvet caressing fingers, and with a shy side glance at the re- 
treating figure of the boy whom he had struck, turned upon 
his heel. “I don’t care,” he muttered; “it’s good for him! 
Papa doesn’t like him, either ; he always says, ‘ This coward is 
afraid of the sound of his own voice.’ ” 

“ But why, then, you little rogue,” the duchess asked, with 
a smile, “ do you always insist upon having Gabriel with you?” 

“ Because — well — because I choose to.” 

With these wayward words, he tossed his curly head, turned 
his back upon the company as if it did not exist, and vanished 
behind one of the cottages. By a circuitous route he then 
sought the giant linden, behind which Gabriel had retired. . 

The lonely white figure was leaning against the trunk of 
the tree. He was a boy about thirteen years of age, with a 
face profoundly melancholy in expression, and a supple, well- 
knit, but by no means muscular frame. He had dipped his 
pocket-handkerchief in the water of the lake, and was laying 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


9 


It upon his left cheek, while his delicate lips twitched ner- 
vously, less perhaps from the pain caused by the blow than 
from inward emotion. 

Little Leo walked up and down before him several times, 
savagely cracking his whip. 

“Does it hurt very much?” he asked, abruptly, knitting his 
brows angrily and stamping his foot. Gabriel had taken away 
the handkerchief to dip it again in water, and a red, swollen 
welt, streaking the left cheek, was plainly to be seen. 

“ Oh, no,” the boy answered, and his voice was gentle and 
very melodious ; “it only burns a little now.” 

In an instant the whip lay on the ground, and its owner 
had his arms around the beaten boy. 

“ Oh, I am too wicked a fellow!” he sobbed out. “ There 
lies my whip, Gabriel ; take it and thrash me 1” 

The other children, who now stood around, stared open- 
mouthed at this outburst of profound repentance. The duchess 
also had approached. Some strange emotion must have over- 
come her. She snatched the boy to her and covered his 
beautiful face with kisses. 

“Raoul!” she whispered. The name was breathed racher 
than spoken. 

“Nonsense!” pouted the boy, rudely extricating himself 
from her embrace, — “Raoul is my papa’s name.” 

A deep blush crimsoned the pale cheek of the lady ; she 
stood motionless for a moment, then slowly turned her head 
and cast a timid glance around her; but all the ladies neai 
were vanishing within one of the cottages. 


10 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


CHAPTER IL 

Along the road leading from the capital came a court 
ecjuipage, in which sat a gentleman, while the blue satin cush 
ions beside him were occupied by croquet-mallets and balls. 
Just as the carriage was turning into the drive upon the shore 
of the lake, a pedestrian emerged from the shadow of a group 
of trees. The gentleman in the carriage ordered his coachman 
to stop. 

“ Good-day, Mainau !” he called. “ No offence ; but you are 
expected with the greatest impatience, and here you are saun- 
tering along on the most roundabout road ! The linden was 
planted long ago, and you have deprived the House of Mainau 
of the proud tradition that it was your hand that held the sap- 
ling upright while Frederick the Twenty-first shovelled earth 
upon its roots.” 

“ For which my portrait will be hung with black crape in 
future.” 

The gentleman in the carriage laughed, and, opening the 
barouche-door, made a motion to the other to enter. 

“What the deuce, Rudiger! inside?” and Mainau maae a 
comical gesture of dismay. “No, thank God ; the gout Has 
spared me as yet. Drive on in the proud consciousness of 
vour lofty mission. You have been to fetch the croquet-balls 
1 see. Enviable mortal 1” 

The gentleman sprang out of the carriage and closed the 
door, and then, as the vehicle drove on, the two men turned 
into the footpath that led among the trees to the fishing-vil- 
lage. They contrasted oddly enough as they walked side by 
side. The gentleman from the carriage was short, vivacious 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


11 


and quite stout ; while his companion was so tall that he some- 
times had to bend his head to avoid contact with the lowei 
boughs of the trees. There was something that startled and 
dazzled one in the face and air of this man, — a strange intent- 
ness in the carriage of his expressive head and his gestures, 
sometimes seen in the melancholy gleam of dark eyes, some- 
times in the sudden lighting of those eyes to an indignation 
that can nerve the weakest arm against an antagonist. The 
angry boy by the lake-side was so like him that the resemblance 
was almost laughable. 

“Let us walk, then,” said Herr von Eiidiger. “Unfortu- 
nately, we cannot be late enough at dinner to-day. Ugh ! — pap 
and pudding of every variety. I am in no danger of reproof, 
either, for I bring you with me. Apropos, you have been 
away for two days, your Leo told the duchess.” 

“Yes, I have been away.” 

This laconic assent was too much even for the vivacious little 
man. The “ Where ?” that he was about to utter died upon his 
lips. They were passing a spot where the foliage divided and 
there was a view of the lake and the little village. Snowy, 
tables were spread beneath the lindens ; and among the cot- 
tages, through the open door of one of which the prince’s cook 
could be seen in white cap and apron, servants were hurry- 
ing to and fro; dinner was evidently in preparation. The 
scene in which little Leo had played such a part had long 
been forgotten ; all were at play, graceful court ladies and 
slender young chamberlains. Age, too, seemed to bring no 
immunity here ; even the pursy, asthmatic old Oberhofmeister 
waddled about among the crowd of children clapping his 
hands. 

The duchess was standing on the very brink of the lake ; so 
near the edge that her feet almost touched the water. Her 
white reflection floated like swan’s-down upon the glassy sur- 
fece. Some young girls had woven her a wreath of wild 


12 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


kjonvoivulus and maybells. It lay above her brow, the long 
feathery tendrils drooping down. upon her graceful shoulders. 

“Ophelia!” cried Baron Mainau, in a low tone, with a 
wave of his hand. There was infinite sarcasm in his voice. 

His companion turned upon him. “ No, no I if you please, 
Mainau. No farce with me. It may impose upon the women, 
who tremble like lambs in your presence ; but not upon me.” 
He thrust his hands into the side-pockets of his light over- 
coat, shrugged his shoulders, and began, with a sly smile, 
“ Once upon a time there was a beautiful but poor princess 
and a gay young gallant. They were in love with each other, 
and the princess would have been glad to be rid of her rank 
to be a baron’s wife.” He paused a moment, and glanced at 
his companion, but he did not notice how pale he grew as his 
burning glance sought the depths of the thicket beside them 
Then gaily continuing, “ But the princess’s cousin made his 
appearance — the ruler of the land — and sued for her fair hand. 
Her beautiful black eyes wept bitter tears ; but rank and power 
won the victory over love at last, and the princess let them 
place a crown upon her splendid dark curls. Honour bright, 
Mainau,” he interrupted himself, “who could blame her? 
Only sentimentalists.” 

Mainau made no reply. He angrily broke ofi* and threw 
away some young twigs that had made bold to touch his 
cheek. 

“How her heart must beat to-day I” said Biidiger, after a 
short pause, evidently resolved not to drop the interesting 
subject. “ Her mourning is at an end ; her princely pride is 
satisfied forever ; for the duchess is the mother of the reigning 
prince. You, too, are free from matrimonial fetters. Every- 
thing is wonderfully arranged, — and you would persuade me 
— No use, my dear fellow. We know what will happen 
to-day.” 

“What wonderful sagacity you show!” said Baron Mainau, 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


13 


with mock admiration. As he spoke, they emerged from 
the forest upon the open space where the carriages were 
standing, and, avoiding the crowd and press, turned into the 
narrow path upon the lake-shore. 

“ What, boy ! are you mad ?” Mainau suddenly cried, seiz- 
ing by the collar a half-grown, sturdy beggar-boy, who was 
dangling in a very dangerous position from a bough that 
overhung the water. He shook him once or twice, like a wet 
poodle, and placed him upon his feet. “ A bath might have 
been of service to you, my boy,” he laughed, looking at his 
light-gloved hands ; “ but I doubt if you can swim.” 

“ Pah ! the fellow was horridly dirty,” said Rudiger, with 
a shudder. 

“ So he was. But I can assure you that I do not make 
myself wretched long about such contacts — hasty plebeian 
sins of the hand, in which the soul has no part. There it is 
again. We must strive long before the true feeling of aris- 
tocracy so permeates our physical frame that we shall be in 
no danger of yielding to a sudden impulse. Don’t you agree 
with me? eh ?” 

Rudiger turned away peevishly, and hastened on. “ Your 
heroic act has been observed from the Maienfest,” he said, 
hurriedly. “ Come, come, Mainau ’ The duchess is moving ; 
and there comes your boy.” 

Little Leo came rushing around the lake to his papa, who 
bent to caress him, and then walked on with the child’s hand 
in his. 

While the others went on with their play upon the Maien- 
fest, the duchess, attended by several ladies and gentlemen of 
the court-j walked slowly towards the new-comers. There was 
in her every motion the inimitable languid grace of the creole. 
Yes, her heavy widow’s mourning was gone, like an ugly chrys- 
alis from the bright-hued butterfly. Decorum and conven- 
tionality had been paid their just due, and at last happiness 

2 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


might claim its own. There was no need to restrain any longci 
the fire that burned in those eyes at this moment. 

“ I must upbraid you, Baron Mainau,” she said, with a 
slight tremor in her voice. “You frightened me by what you 
did just now ; and, besides, you have come too late.” 

He held his hat in his right hand, and made her a profound 
bow. The sunlight played over the brown curls of the head 
before which ladies trembled “ like lambs.” 

“ I should assure your highness that I am most unfortunate 
in being late,” he replied. “ But you will hardly believe such 
an assertion if I tell you where I lingered.” 

The duchess fixed her eyes upon him with an expression 
of inquiry. He had grown a little pale ; but that fathomless 
glance of his sought her face in a kind of savage triumph. 
Involuntarily her hand sought her heart. The pale little rose 
in her belt broke off, and fell unnoticed at the feet of the man 
who confronted her. 

In vain he waited for her to question him. She was silent in 
what seemed almost breathless expectation. With another obei- 
sance, he continued, after a moment’s pause, “I was at Rudis- 
dorf, at my aunt Trachenberg’s. Permit me to announce to your 
highness my betrothal to Juliana, Countess von Trachenberg.” 

All around stood as if petrified. Who might dare to break 
the silence, or even cast an indiscreet glance at the duchess, 
whose face blanched to the very lips ? Her niece only, the 
young princess Helena, laughed carelessly and gaily. “ What 
an idea, Baron Mainau ! Marry a woman called Juliana ! She 
musibe a great-grandmother at least, and wear spectacles !” 

He joined in her merry laughter, — how melodious and inno- 
cent it sounded ! The spell of silence was broken. The duchess, 
too, smiled with pale lips, and addressed a few words of con- 
gratulation to the baron, with all the condescending grace that 
becomes a sovereign towards a subject. 

“ My dear girls,” she then said, turning easily and gracefully 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


15 


to a group of young people, “ I am sorry to lay aside your 
charming wreath, but it weighs upon my temples. I must 
retire for a few moments and take it off. Au revoir at 
dinner.” 

She declined the proffered assistance of one of her ladies-in- 
waiting, and went into a cottage, the door of which she closed 
behind her. 

Her face was always lily-pale, and her eyes often shone with 
ft glow that seemed born of southern skies. She smiled gra- 
ciously, and vanished like a flitting fairy. No one saw her 
within the cottage sink upon the floor in a passion of tearless 
grief, as she tossed away the wreath from her head and strove 
flercely for self-control. For the time allowed her was so short. 
In a few moments she must appear blandly smiling again before 
the courtly throng outside. They must not dream of the wild 
fire in her veins. 

Meanwhile, Baron Mainau was standing with his boy on the 
shore, watching, with apparent amusement, the bustle among 
the carriages. Every one had congratulated him, but a re- 
straint had fallen upon all the company, and he soon found 
himself alone. Suddenly Biidiger approached him. 

“A fearful revenge! most striking!” the little man mur- 
mured, with something like terror in his tone. “ Ah, I say 
with Gretchen, ‘Henry, I fear thee.’ God bless me! Was 
there ever another man who could, upon the altar of his 
wounded pride, slaughter his victim after so implacable, so 
refined, so cruel a fashion as you did just now? You are des- 
perately bold — terribly ” 

“ Because I chose to say, not in set phrase and at my own 
time, ‘ Now 1 refuse’ ? Do you suppose I will let myself be 
married ?” 

The vivacious little man looked at him dubiously. This 
polished man of the world was sometimes rude, not to say 
coarse. “ My consolation is that you suffer terribly yourseH 


16 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


under the cruel conditions imposed upon you by your pridn,'’ 
he said, almost defiantly, after a pause. 

“ Pray admit that all that is my own affair.” 

“ Good heavens 1 -^s. And now, — what next ?” 

“ What next?” laughed Mainau. “A marriage, Riidiger.’ 

“Actually? You have never seen much of Eudisdorf. I 
Know all about it. Just a bride wooed in a hurry out of thf 
^Almanach de Gotha.’” 

“ Eightly guessed, my friend.” 

“Hml She is of an ancient race; but — ^but — every one 
knows Eudisdorf is in ruins. What does she look like?” 

“ My dear Etidiger, she is a bean-pole, twenty years old, with 
red hair and downcast eyes, — that is all I know. Her mirror 
knows her face better than I do. But, bah ! what does it 
matter? I want neither a beautiful nor a rich wife. She 
must be virtuous. She must not annoy me by conduct for 
which I may be held accountable. You know my views con- 
cerning marriage.” 

The same proudly-cruel smile at which the duchess had 
turned pale again flitted across his face, — probably at the 
thought of his “ striking revenge.” 

“ What else can I do ?” he asked, after a moment’s pause, 
with easy nonchalance. “ My uncle has sent off Leo’s tutor, 
because he read in bed o’ nights and wore creaking boots, 
and the governess squints fearfully, and puts almonds and 
bonbons in her pocket at dessert. She is detestable. And I 
want to go to the East, and of course I must leave a wife at 
home. I am to be married in six weeks. Will you be my 
best man ?” 

The little man moved uneasily. “ What can I do ? I 
must,” he said, half angry, half laughing. “ For not one of 
those fellows there,” and he pointed to a group of gentlemen 
who were casting side glances at his companion, “ will have 
anything to say to you ; rely upon that.” 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


17 


“ Oh, G-abriel !” little Leo said, in a state of great childish 
excitement, to the boy in white, immediately after this, “ my 
new mamma, who is coming to our house, is a bean-pole — 
papa said so; and her hair is red, just like our scullery-maid’s. 
I can’t bear her. I’ll have nothing to do with her. I’ll cut 
her with my whip when she comes.” 


CHAPTEK III. 

Look, Liana ! here is Raoul’s wedding-gift. It must have 
cost six thousand thalers,” cried the Countess Trachenberg at 
the door of the room, as she rustled across the threshold. 

The apartment that she entered was upon the ground-floor 
of a wing of the stately castle. ' Its entire front wall was like 
one large pane of glass, divided only by narrow veins of lead 
and very delicate door-frames, and this was all that intervened 
between the floor of the room and the broad, imposing terrace 
outside. Beyond the balustrade of the terrace there was a 
wide stretch of lawn intersected by gravelled paths, with white 
marble groups at the points of intersection. Around the lawn 
ran a belt of dense woodland, through which, directly opposite 
the centre door of this glass-walled saloon, ran an apparently 
endless alley, within whose depths the waters of a fountain, 
sparkling in the May sunshine, obscured the view of the 
misty heights beyond. 

The whole — both castle and garden — formed a masterpiece 
of antique French tast«. But, alas ! from the chinks in the 
marble pavement of the terrace was. sprouting a positively 
thick growth of weeds ; and the outlines of the paths inter- 
secting what should have been a smoothly-shaven lawn were 
irregular with rank grasses, while the broad pathway of tha 
B 2* 


18 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


alley was emerald green in colour. And, ah ! what sights the 
frescoed figures upon the ceiling of the garden-room, as it was 
called, looked down upon ! How tottering and shabby was 
all that rococo furniture ! Banished long since as old-fashicned 
from the brilliant apartments in the castle, it had passed 
through every stage of degradation to the apartments of the 
grooms, where it must have been scrubbed with sand. And 
here it was again in this stately room, — a witness of the 
inevitable decrees of fate. All the gorgeous furniture that 
had eclipsed and thrust it aside, the costly curtains, pictures, 
clocks, mirrors, had fallen beneath the auctioneer’s hammer. 
They were all scattered to the four winds of heaven ; and the 
old, despised rubbish was gathered together again, for it be- 
longed to the entail, and could not be sold. The final ruin 
had occurred four years since. “A disgraceful sign of the 
times, an outrageous triumph of wealth over aristocracy, which 
the justice of Heaven never should have permitted,” the 
Countess Trachenberg was wont to say. 

In the middle of the garden-room stood a long oaken table, 
at one end of which sat a lady, the plainness, nay, ugliness, 
of whose appearance was positively startling. It was almost 
monstrous, the large head crowned with stiff red hair, and 
the face, of the fiat-nosed negro type, not even possessing the 
charm of a clear complexion. The hands alone, now busily 
employed, were delicate, and of exquisite beauty of form. She 
was turning in her fingers a blossom of blue syringa. One 
would have thought the perfume of so fresh a spray must have 
filled the apartment ; but the stem was covered with a strip of 
thin green paper, — the fiower was artificial. 

As the Countess Trachenberg entered, the lady started as 
in terror, the fiower was hastily dropped on the table, and a 
white kerchief thrown over the materials of her work. 

“Oh, ’tis mamma!” half murmured a young girl, standing 
at the other end of the table, with her back to the door. Al) 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


19 


over her back, like a glittering cloak, hung a shining mass. 
The girl had loosened her hair, and it rippled down, rich, 
heavy, golden red in hue, almost to the hem of her light 
muslin dress. At sight of it the countess stayed her steps for 
a moment. “ What is this for?” she asked, pointing to the 
hanging hair. 

I brought home a headache, mamma, and Ulrika loosened 
my braids for me,” was the answer, and there was a slight 
shade of timidity in the voice. “ Indeed, it is a terrible 
burden,” she sighed, leaning back her head as if yielding to 
the weight behind. 

“Have you been out in the sun again, entertaining the 
peasants about here with your weed-gathering?” the countess 
asked, at once sternly and contemptuously. “.When will you 
have done with such childish nonsense ?” She shrugged her 
shoulders, and cast a scornful glance upon the table, where 
were lying quires of blotting-paper and a press for flowers. 
The young girl had just taken some orchids carefully out of 
a tin box preparatory to pressing them. 

Her grace the Countess Trachenberg, nie Princess Luto- 
wiska, knew perfectly well that her eldest daughter. Countess 
Ulrika, manufactured artificial flowers which brought a high 
price in Berlin. The matter was arranged through the me- 
dium of a trustworthy old servant, a former nurse, and no 
one suspected that a coronet rested upon the brows of the 
artist. The countess also knew that her only son, the heir of 
Kudisdorf, prepared, with the assistance of his sister Ju- 
liana. and sold in Bussia, admirable collections of native plants 
But it was impossible that a born Princess Lutowiska should 
be aware of anything so degrading. Woe to the hand de- 
tected in flower-manufacture ! woe to the tongue that hinted 
at these sources of increase to her income ! All these pursuits 
were, of course, childish nonsense ; they would tire of them in 
time. 


20 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


As she passed her youngest daughter, she put her hand 
beneath her tresses, weighing, as it were, the “ terrible bur- 
den and something like an emotion of maternal pride passed 
across her sharply-outlined but still beautiful features. 

“ Raoul ought to see this,” she said “ Little fool, to hide 
such an ornament from him ! I shall never forgive you that 
hDrrible thick velvet ribbon in which you had ^he folly to 
ippear before him ! With such hair ” 

“ But it is red, mamma.” 

“ Nonsense I That is red,” she said, pointing to her 
daughter Ulrika. “ What have I ever done, to be punished 
by two red-heads ?” 

Countess Ulrika, who had in the mean time taken her 
worsted embroidery from her pocket, sat like a statue. Not 
an eyelash quivered ; her beautiful mother was right. But 
her sister ran to her, and, laying the despised head gently 
upon her breast, kissed it tenderly again and again. 

“ Sentimentality forever !’ ’ murmured the Countess Trachen- 
oerg, peevishly, laying upon the table the package that she 
carried. With a pair of scissors she quickly cut open its en- 
velope. It contained a jewel-box, and a piece of heavy white 
silk brocade arabesqued with silver. 

The lady eagerly opened the box, and gazed at its contents 
with head thrown back, scarcely controlling an outburst of 
envious surprise. 

“ Just look ! this bread-and-butter girl of mine will go to 
the altar in more princely attire than did the petted Princess 
Lutowiska,” she said, slowly holding up to the sunlight 
necklace of brilliants and emeralds. “ Yes, yes, it is easy 
enough for the Mainaus. Your father was a poor wretch. 1 
might have known that then.” 

Ulrika started as if her mother had struck her; from the 
sharp blue eyes beneath her heavy eyelids came a flash of 
irritation ; but she calmly drew out her needleful of green 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


21 


worsted, and said, in a grave monotone, “ The Tracheobergs 
then possessed an unencumbered property of half a million. 
They had always been a frugal, domestic family, and my dear 
father was true to their traditional virtues until, at forty years 
of age, he married. At the bankruptcy I did all that I could, 
with the lawyer’s assistance, to understand matters. I know 
that boundless compliance reduced papa to poverty.” 

“ Insolent !” exclaimed the countess, with a sudden outburst 
of anger. “ Cleave to your Trachenbergs. Although I gave 
you birth, I have no part in you. One needs but to walk 
through the portrait-gallery of your family to know that, — 
red-haired Tartar faces from beginning to end. I did well to 
weep and lament when, thirty years ago, a little new-born 
monster — a genuine Trachenberg — was laid in my arms.” 

“ Mamma ! mamma !” cried Liana. 

“ Be quiet, my child,” her sister said, soothingly, with a 
smile. She rolled up her embroidery and arose. The sisters 
were of the same height, above middle size, sylph-like forms, 
with beautiful hands and feet, and supple, taper fingers. As 
her mother grumblingly tossed the jewel-box upon the table, 
Ulrika unrolled the piece of silk. Heavy and stiff, as only 
such brocade can be, its folds fell upon the floor with a rustle 
that was almost metallic. Casting a terrified glance at the 
heap of silver splendour. Liana turned and looked fixedly out 
into the garden. 

“You will be a majestic bride, Liana. If papa could only 
see it!” cried Ulrika. 

“ Mainau insults us,” murmured the young girl, in a deeplv 
wounded tone. 

“Insults us?” exclaimed the Countess Trachenberg, whoso 
quick ears had caught the half- whispered words. “Are you 
beside yourself? And will you have the kindness to tell me 
wherein he presumes to insult the Trachenbergs?” 

Liana pointed to the worn and faded covering of the old 


^2 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


arm-chair, across which lay the gorgeous bridal dress. “ Can 
you conceive a greater contrast, mamma? Is it not a tactless 
condescension on his part to our — poverty?” she replied, evi- 
dently with an effort to overcome her fear of her irritable 
mother. 

The Countess Trachenberg clasped her hands. “ God help 
me 1 How did I ever come by such plebeian children, meas- 
uring the dignity of their position by a haberdasher’s yard- 
stick? Condescension I And that from a Trachenberg ! You 
condescend to the Mainaus, let me tell you. Are you not 
aware that your mother is a direct descendant of the old Po- 
lish kings, and that your paternal ancestors were lords of the 
land long before the crusades ? If Raoul were to lay the wealth 
of the world at your feet, he could not buy of you pre-emi- 
nence of rank. His family is not ten generations old. In- 
deed, this marriage of yours is a mesalliance., and if I could 
have endured the thought of two daughters left on my hands, 
I should certainly have denied his suit. And he knows this 
well enough, or he would not have engaged himself almost 
without seeing you.” 

The girl stood motionless, with her hands clasped before her. 
The golden-red hair fellover her breast and concealed her pro- 
file. But her sister walked several times hastily to and fro in 
the room. 

At this moment the door leading into the corridor was 
gently opened ; the old nurse — at present the cook — ^put in 
her head. “Excuse me, your grace,” she said, in a humble 
cone; “but the post-boy will not wait any longer.” 

“Oh, yes; I had entirely forgotten the man. He must 
wait until I come. Give him a cup of coffee, in the kitchen, 
Lena.” 

The servant vanished, and Countess Trachenberg took a 
paper from her pocket. 

“ The post-boy must have a douceur, and here is a postal bill 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


2S 


for forty thalers that we must pay. The wine-merchant in 
Rheims most impertinently requires payment on delivery for 
the champagne I have ordered for the wedding. Pay it,” she 
said, curtly, handing the paper to Ulrika. 

A blush of terror suffused her daughter’s face. “You 
ordered champagne, mamma?” she exclaimed, in dismay. 
“Heavens! and to such an amount!” 

The countess smiled scornfully. “ Did you propose to regale 
the gentlemen at the wedding-breakfast with your home-made 
currant-wine? And I never imagined, as I have just told you, 
that we should be required to pay thus, on delivery.” She 
shrugged her shoulders: “There is nothing for it but to put a 
good face upon the matter and pay the bill.” 

Ulrika, without a word, unlocked a desk and took from it 
two rolls of money. “ Here is all we have at present,” she 
said, briefly and decidedly, — “thirty-five thalers. We must 
live. Not only in Rheims are we refused credit ; we cannot 
buy a pound of meat in all the country round without ready 
money. You must be aware of that.” 

“ Certainly. My sagacious daughter Ulrika preaches often 
enough from this favourite text.” 

“I must^ mamma,” Ulrika calmly replied; “because you so 
often forget — what is surely not difl&cult to understand — that 
our creditors have cut down our yearly income from twenty- 
five thousand to six hundred thalers.” 

The Countess Trachenberg put her fingers in her ears and 
ran to one of the glass doors. Tall and majestic though she 
was, she acted like a spoiled child. She tore the door open 
and was about to rush out, when a new idea took possession 
of her. She closed it again, and said calmly, but with 
evident malice, “ Only six hundred thalers ! But let me ask 
you once more. How are they spent? We eat soup fit only 
for beggars. Lena feeds us with rice and eggs till I am sick 
of both; and the pinch of tea that you allow us grows morn 


24 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


and more homoeopathic. I wear this thing,” she pointed to 
her black silk dress, “ with which you had the kindness to 
present me at Christmas, day in and day out. Everything 
that could make my lonely life here in some degree tolerable 
— new French books, bonbons, perfumery — has long been a 
forbidden luxury. Therefore I conclude that you must have a 
aarplus of money at your disposal of which you do not tell me.” 

‘•Ulrika never falsifies, mamma,” cried Liana, indignantly. 

‘'I cannot send the bill back,” the countess continued, with- 
out heeding the interruption. “ You must put an end to this 
farce and pay it.” 

“I cannot conjure money out of the ground. The wine 
must be returned,” Ulrika composedly replied. 

Her mother uttered a shrill scream and threw herself upon 
a sofa in a fit of hysterics. 

Calmly, with folded arms, Ulrika stood by her side, looking 
down upon her with a bitter, ironical smile. 

“ Poor Magnus,” whispered Liana, pointing to the door of 
the adjoining room. “ He is in there, and will be terrified at 
this noise. Pray, dear mamma, be composed ; Magnus must 
not see you thus. What will he think?” she said, half in en- 
treaty, half in reproof, to her mother. The girlish figure no 
longer trembled with fear; there was an involuntary sense of 
superiority in the warning gesture of her hand. She spoke to 
deaf ears; her mother’s screams continued. 

The door of the adjoining room opened; Liana flew to- 
wards it. 

“Gro, Magnus; don’t come here now,” she entreated, in 
X touching, child-like way, trying gently to force back the 
intruder. He might easily have been pushed away, one would 
have thought, so slender and boyish did he look. 

“Let me come in, little Famulus,” he said, kindly, and his 
intelligent face beamed with pleasure. “ I have heard it aJL 
and am come to the rescue.” 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


25 


But fl)r one moment he hesitated to advance, as his eye fell 
upon the convulsed figure upon the sofa. 

“Mamma, be calm,” he said, approaching, with a slight 
tremor in his voice. “You can pay for the wine. Look, 
here is money, five hundred thalers, mamma dear!” And he 
held a handful of bank-notes towards her. 

Ulrika looked intently into his face. Her own was crimson, 
but he did not notice it. He threw the roll of bank-notes 
carelessly upon the sofa beside his mother, and opened a 
book that he had in his hand. “ Look, darling, here it is,” 
he said to Liana, with evident emotion. 

The sufferer upon the sofa grew quieter; she groaned, and 
covered her eyes with her hand, but a wonderfully sharp, intel- 
ligent glance shot through her fingers and scrutinized the book 
in her son’s hand. 

“ Don’t be too proud, my dear little Famulus,” he continued. 

“ Our manuscript has come back to us a magnificent book. It 
is passing victoriously through the cross-fire of criticism ; it is 
approved by the highest scientific authorities. Oh, Liana! • 
read the publisher’s letter ” 

“Hush, Magnus!” Ulrika interrupted him, quickly and 
authoritatively. 

The Countess Trachenberg sat upright. “What book is 
that?” she asked. There was no trace of hysterics discern- 
ible in features,- voice, or manner. 

Ulrika hastily took the book from her brother’s hand and 
pressed it tenderly to her breast. “ It is a work upon fossil 
plants. Magnus wrote it, and Liana made the drawings for 
it,’' she explained, briefly. 

“ Grive it to me ; I wish to see it.” 

Hesitatingly, with a reproachful glance at her brothei, 
Ulrika handed her the book ; but Liana, pale to the very lips, 
hid her face in her hands. She had learned from earliest 
childhood to dread the expression that she now saw in her 


26 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


mother’s face more than any punishment with which she could 
be threatened. 

Fossil Plants, by Magnus, Count von Trachenberg,” the 
countess read, in a loud voice. Across the book she gave her 
son one annihilating glance. “And where,” she asked, “is 
the name of the illustrator?” 

“ Liana would not permit her name to be mentioned,” the 
young man replied, with perfect composure. 

“ Ah ! Then in one at least of these heads there is a spark 
of sense, a weak glimmer of just pride of position !” She 
laughed contemptuously, and hurled the heavy volume from 
b';r with such violence that it crashed through one of the 
panes of glass and fell upon the pavement of the terrace 
outside. 

“ That is the only place for such trash,” she said, pointing 
to the book, which lay open at a beautifully executed drawing 
of a prehistoric fern. “ Oh, thrice happy mother, what a son 
you have to be proud of ! Too great a coward to be a soldier, 
too weak-minded for a diplomatist, the descendant of the 
Princess Lutowiska, the last Count Trachenberg, has become 
a book-maker and works for wages.” 

In a passionate burst of grief, Liana threw her arms around 
her brother’s slender figure ; he, for his part, evidently un- 
derwent an inward struggle for composure beneath these 
insults. 

“ Mamma, how can you have the heart to speak so to Mag- 
nus?” cried Liana. “ To call him a coward ! Seven years ago 
he plunged into the lake and saved me from drowning at the 
risk of his life. You know he refused to enter the army 
because he abhors the needless shedding of blood. He weak- 
minded, — profound thinker that he is ! Oh. mamma, how cruel 
and unjust you are ! He hates dissimulation, and would never 
stoop to the tricks of diplomacy. I, too, am proud, very proud, 
of oar old renowned name, but I cannot understand how a 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


27 


patent of nobility is to be preserved only by entering the armj 
or the lanks of diplomacy ” 

“ And I should like to know,” Ulrika interposed, with grave 
emphasis, — ^she had brought the despised volume into the 
house again, — “ which ' is the more honotirable career for a 
Trachenberg, to stand foremost among scientific men or among 
Sankrupts?” 

“ Oh, you ” The countess was almost speechless with 

inger. “You are the scourge of my life !” She paced the 
room in uncontrollable rage, then suddenly pausing with ill- 
boding composure, said, “ In fact, I cannot see the necessity 
for my living with you any longer ; you are long past the age 
to need a mother’s sheltering wing. I have borne with you 
long enough, and am ready to grant you unlimited leave of 
absence. Gro where you will, and stay where you will, only 
let my house be rid of your presence !” 

Count Magnus took his outcast sister’s hand. The brother 
and sisters were fondly attached to one another. “ Mamma,” 
he said, gently, although his face was fiushed with emotion, 
“ you force me for the first time to assert myself as heir to 
Rudisdorf. The castle and the paltry income left to the estate 
are by right mine only. You cannot take Ulrika’s home from 
her, — her place is with me.” 

The countess turned away and walked towards the door by 
which she had entered. Her son was so absolutely right 
that she could not reply to his words. On the threshold she 
lurned once more. 

“ Never dare,” she harshly commanded Ulrika, “ to use 
one penny of that money for household expenses.” And she 
pointed to the roll of notes lying upon the sofa. “ I would 
starve sooner than eat a morsel purchased with it. I will pay 
for the wine. Thank Heaven, I have plate enough saved from 
the shipwreck. Let the silver off which my forefathers 
dined be melted up. I shall comfort myself with the knowl* 


28 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


edge that 1 entertain my guests after a princely fashion, and 
not upon a mechanic’s wages. But you,” and she turned to 
Liana, “ will repent all this ; your punishment for this insub- 
ordination to your mother is at hand. Wait until you are at 
Schbnwerth. Baoul, and still more his old uncle Mainaii, will 
soon clear your head of all this pedantry and sentimental 
nonsense.” 

The door closed after her with a bang that re-echoed along 
the wide-vaulted corridor. 


CHAPTER ly. 

Five weeks had passed since the above scene in Castle 
Rudisdorf Preparations were making for the marriage. Six 
years before, such an event would have found the magnificent 
castle swarming with work-people and lackeys, for the countess 
had lived a life as luxurious as a Turkish pacha’s. Six 
years before, the suitor would have borne a fairy bride from 
the midst of feasting and revelry, — f§tes rivalling in splendour 
those of an Eastern tale ; now he was to bear his bride from 
gardens that were wildernesses, from deserted rooms, where the 
phantoms of vanished joys hovered among marble pillars hung 
with the tapestry that the spider weaves. The stateliest 
drawing-room was used as a granary ; all the window-shutters 
were closed, and where a ray of light penetrated some chink 
it fell upon dust and desolation everywhere. 

It was well that the lordly figures in helm and breastplate, 
or with nodding plumes above their ruddy locks, were fastened 
to the walls of the portrait-gallery, — neither they nor their 
haughty dames and daughters in Stuart collars and gold 
brocade could descend to the garden-room j assuredly thev 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


29 


would have dropped their peacock -plume fans and stiff-leaved 
roses from their pale hands to clasp them in dismay, for there 
knelt Ulrika, the genuine Trachenberg, as the countess always 
called her, tearing off the moth-eaten covers from sofas and 
arm-chairs, and with her own noble hands hammering in the 
nails that fastened on the new flowered chintz. Old Lena was 
Tubbing and polishing the worm-eaten wood of the furniture 
in til it dimly shone again. Thanks to the opportune arrival 
of the publisher’s enclosure, there were various graceful 
chairs and flower-stands of wicker-work scattered here and 
there. The white walls were hung with a drapery of ivy, and 
festoons of clematis and evergreen drooped to the floor from 
among broad-leaved plants on the stands. An air of comfort 
pervaded the formerly cheerless apartment ; and it was well 
that such was the case, for here the wedding-breakfast was to 
be spread. 

While all this was in preparation. Liana, with tin box and 
trowel, explored fleld and forest at her brother’s side. He, 
absorbed in the miracles of creation, forgot that his little 
Famulus would shortly cease to live and work with hina ; 
and from her lips e&,me fluently Latin names and critical 
remarks, but never an allusion to her distant bridegroom. 
She was an odd bride. 

Liana, it is true, had often heard the Mainaus spoken of in 
her childhood — ^a Lutowiska had once married a Mainau — but 
there had never been any personal intercourse between the 
two families. Suddenly letters arrived from Schbnwerth foi 
the Countess Trachenberg, and a lively correspondence ensued, 
which resulted in the announcement to her daughter by the 
countess that she had promised her in marriage to her cousin 
Mainau. Every remonstrance on the girl’s part was cut short 
by the declaration that her own hand, that of a Lutowiska, 
had been disposed of in the same manner, and that it was the 
'inly becoming fashion fcr such arrangements. Then the 

3 * 


30 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


bridegroom had arrived unexpectedly ; Liana had hardly had 
time to smooth beneath the much-abused velvet ribbon her 
locks, dishevelled in her morning’s walk by the wind, when her 
mother sent for her. She was scarcely conscious of what 
happened then. A tall, handsome man had advanced to meet 
her from a window-recess, — the sun shining broadly in behind 
him had dazzled her and forced her to cast down her eyes. 
Tie had spoken to her in a paternal, kindly tone, and in con- 
clusion held out his hand, in which she, moved thereto by her 
mother’s command, but still more by the previous private 
entreaty of her sister Ulrika, had laid her own. He had 
immediately afterwards taken his departure, to the unspeakable 
relief of the Countess Trachenberg, whose thoughts during 
the betrothal had been wandering through the cobwebbed 
cellars in search of some nobler beverage than home-made 
currant wine, while old Lena in the kitchen had racked her 
brain in the endeavour to produce a princely repast from five 
eggs and some cold veal cutlets. 

All necessary arrangements for the marriage were made in 
writing between the bridegroom and the mother of the bride 
a few lines to Liana had accompanied Raoul’s bridal gift, — 
lines full . of polite gallantry, but cold and formal ; she had 
glanced at them with utter lack of interest, and they had since 
lain untouched in the jewel-casket. But all this was so 
“ perfectly suitable and aristocratic,” Liana’s “ composure” so 
satisfied her countess mother, that a few days after the stormy 
scene in the garden-room she condescended to dine with her 
children again, and even to address a gracious word to them 
now and then. She did not know how bitterly the young girl 
felt the pain of parting; even her brother and sister were 
unconscious of her suffering. 

The marriage morn had come, — a cool, cloudy July day. 
After some days of dry heat, a gentle rain was pattering upon 
the forest-leaves, and drenching the thirsty weeds upon lawn 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


31 


and gravel-path. The birds twittered joyously fiom trees and 
bush, and old Lena looked out into the shower from among 
her pots and pans, and rejoiced that the bride would have 
some rain-drops upon her wreath. 

A single carriage drove into the castle court-yard, — a hack 
from the nearest railroad station. It vanished in one of th 
huge empty carriage-houses, and the two gentlemen it had 
contained slowly ascended the steps of the terrace. Baron 
Mainau was punctuality itself ; he had arrived, according to 
agreement, just half an hour before the time appointed for the 
marriage. 

“ Heaven help us ! — that a bridegroom !” old Lena sighed, 
sadly, as she retreated from her post of observation at the 
kitchen-window. 

The glass door on the terrace flew open, and the Countess 
Trachenberg appeared. The rain sprinkled her dark- violet 
velvet ribbons, and glittered upon her smooth hair by the side 
of several brilliants saved from the wreck. With languid 
grace she extended her delicate hands from a cloud of rich 
lace. Who would have thought they could have tossed away 
a heavy book rudely and angrily ? 

They took refuge from the rain in the countess’s sitting- 
room, and Baron Mainau presented his friend, Herr von 
Rudiger. In the pauses of the airy talk that followed the 
presentation, a macaw screamed in a window-niche, and two 
snow-white poodles snarled and frolicked on the faded rug. If 
old Lena had not hung a wreath above the glass door, and if 
the effect of the countess’s toilette had not been so splendid, no 
one would have dreamed that there was a solemn ceremony in 
prospect, so frivolous and superfleial were the lady’s remarks, 
so indifferent and unmoved was the perfectly-dressed bride- 
groom as he stood at the window looking out at the pouring 
rain, and so deep and lonely was the silence that had reigned 
outside since the noise of the carriage- wheels in the court -yard 


32 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


had died away. Herr von Rudiger knew that this marriage wan 
only a business transaction, and he was too much of a courtier 
and man of the world not to find the arrangement quite comme 
il faut; but the weird solitude around seemed to the vivacious 
little man “ quite beyond a joke.”. A cold chill ran through 
his veins, and he drew a deep breath when at last the folding- 
doors of the adjoining room were slowly and solemnly thrown 
open, and the bride entered, leaning upon her brother’s arm, 
and followed by Ulrika. Her veil fell over her face and down 
from the back of her head to the hem of her white tulle dress, 
which was made after the simplest fashion, gathered in about 
the throat, and adorned with a few sprays of myrtle ; there 
was no sign of the silver brocade ; the bride of the simplest 
commoner could not have been more plainly attired. Her eyes 
were bent upon the floor, wherefore she did not see the sur- 
prised glance with which Baron Mainau surveyed her, nor the 
expression of contemptuous pity that followed it; but she 
shrank closer to her brother when her mother exclaimed, in 
a kind of terror, — 

“What does this mean, child? Are you mad?” Such 
were the words that greeted the girl’s first appearance as a 
bride. The countess was so angry that'she raised her hand as 
if to thrust her daughter back across the threshold of the door, 

saying, “ Gro to your room, instantly, and change this ” 

She ceased involuntarily, for Baron Mainau had taken her 
hand, and, although he said nothing, there was that in his 
^ook and gesture which forbade further remonstrance. 

In the corridor, behind the open doors, old Lena was wait- 
ing and peeping, in hopes of seeing the bridegroom take his 
“fair, lovely countess” in his arms and kiss her; but to do so 
never occurred to the “stick of a man.” Murmuring a few 
courteous words, he took the cold hand hanging by his bride’s 
side and raised it to his lips quite as if he were afraid of break- 
ing it, and then he presented her with a magnificent bouquet. 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


33 


“We have flowers of our own,” the old woman grumbled, 
looking along the hall, which she had strewn with evergreen 
and rosebuds. Soon afterwards the despised tulle dress swept 
along over the geraniums and roses, and the countess’s mother, 
who followed the bridal pair upon the arm of Herr von Riidi- 
ger, swept the poor things up into a heap with her heavy 
train. 

The marble heads of the apostles around the chancel and 
altar of the castle chapel of Kudisdorf had often before looked 
down upon a pale, statue-like bride, had often heard a cold, 
calm assent from manly lips — for it had never been a custom in 
the Trachenberg family to pay much heed to the “ sentimental 
folly” of its daughters; but surely there had never been 
solemnized here so dreary and colourless a marriage as this ! 
The baron had seriously requested that there might be no idle 
lookers-on. What might not have been the gossip about the 
gallant bridegroom, who, with all the courtesy that he showed 
his bride, scarcely looked at her? Only once, as they were 
kneeling to receive the blessing, his eyes seemed riveted upon 
her for a moment. Her braids hung over her shoulders and 
lay long and heavy, like serpents of red gold, upon the white 
marble mosaic of the pavement. 

And after the ceremony, what haste he seemed to be ini 
The minister had been slow, and there must be no delay in 
catching the next train. During their stay in the chapel the 
rain-drops had pattered against the stained glass of the win- 
dows, the only whisper of music to be heard ; but now the 
sun broke through the dissolving gray, kindled a thousand 
quivering lights in the fountain, crept through the dim, humid 
alley, away over the rustling grass, and with its warm breath 
dried the tear-drops on the flowers. It sparkled, too, on the 
modelled lion-heads on the huge old silver ice-bowl, that stood 
upon the breakfast-table in the garden-room in all the arro- 
gance of a splendid past, unconscious that many of its brave 
C 


34 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


old comrades of former centuries were exhaled in the foam 
which sparkled from the bottles that nestled among the pieces 
of ice. Breakfast was eaten standing. The brother and sis- 
ters took nothing, but stood apart, talking together in a half- 
whisper, while Count Magnus, with moist eyes, held Liana’s 
hand in his own. The shy, silent scholar seemed now first to 
have become aware of what he was losing. 

“ May I entreat you, Juliana? It is time !” Baron Mainau’s 
voice suddenly broke in upon their whispered words, as be 
approached the group and held out his watch to his bride. 

She started. It was the first time that voice had called 
her by name. It seemed courteous enough; but how hard, 
how stern! Even her harsh, unloving mother called her 
Liana. She turned, with a gentle inclination of her head to 
him and to all present, and left the room, accompanied by 
Ulrika. Silently but hurriedly the sisters ascended the stair« 
to their common sitting-room. 

“Liana, he is terrible!” cried Ulrika, as the door closed 
behind them ; and, calm as she usually was, she now threw 
herself upon a lounge and, burying her face in the cushions, 
burst into tears. 

“ Hush, hush ! don’t make it too hard for me ! Did you 
expect anything else? , I did not,” Liana said, soothingly, 
while a bitter smile fiitted across her pallid lips. She took 
off her lovely myrtle-wreath very carefully, and laid it away 
with all the little memorials of her childish days. In a few 
minutes her bridal dress was exchanged for a gray travelling- 
suit and round hat with a thick gray veil. 

“And now once more to papa!” said Liana, sadly, but 
firmly. 

“ Only one moment more ” Ulrika entreated. 

“Do not detain me. I must not keep him waiting,” she 
replied, gravely. She threw her arm around her sister, and 
they left the room. 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


35 


Tho marble gallery, as it was called, where hun^ the family 
portraits, was upon this story, and ran parallel to the terrace 
upon which the garden-room opened. The sisters walked in 
the deep twilight, caused by the closed shutters, through itfi 
entire length to the extreme end, where a few rays of day* 
light, hovering about in a dim, ghostly way, showed pale 
reflections on the smooth, shining marble floor. XJlrika noise- 
lessly opened the shutters here. All the portraits of mailed 
men with fiery beards and threatening hrows remained almost 
hidden in the shadow. The broad sunlight fell full upon the 
pictured image of a reverend old man seated by a table, upon 
which rested one firm, white hand. The unlovely insignia of 
the Trachenbergs, the fiery hair and beard, were here trans- 
formed to silken silver, covering head and upper lip. 

“Dear, dear papa!” Liana whispered, raising her clasped 
hands to the picture. She had ^)een his pride, his darling ; in 
his last moments his uncertain hand had lingered caressingly 
upon the head that had so often been pillowed upon his 
arm. On his left hung the portrait of a lady, a spare, angular 
figure. Her robe was trimmed with ermine ; and her scraggy 
shoulders supported a head upon the high, powdered hair of 
which was placed a coronet. She was Liana’s paternal grand- 
mother, a princess from a petty royal family. Within that 
strait-laced body had throbbed a stony heart. The cold blue 
eyes stared down upon the grandchild, whose tearful glance 
bade a sad farewell to her ancestral home, which she left 
to go to wealth and luxury. She pointed with her jew- 
elled fan down the long gallery, with its rows of portraits, 
as if to say, “ All these were marriages of pure convenience ; 
illustrious names, destined not to love, but to rule throughout 
the ages.” 

A rustle sounded through the hall, as if of low whispers 
passing from lip to Up; but it was only the summer wind 
bearing in the incense that the rain had called forth from tho 


36 


THE SECOND WITH. 


earth, to be wafted up to the tablets above each mailed form. 
TTpon the terrace without, however, were heard footsteps slowly 
approaching from the garden-room to beneath where the gal- 
lery-window was open. The sisters, casting a stolen glance 
below, saw Baron Mainau standing on the terrace, looking 
abroad across the balustrade at the prospect, no longer the 
cool, reserved bridegroom who had so punctiliously played Ids 
part at the ceremony. He was evidently, to his great content, 
laying aside the restraint which he had lately imposed upon 
his proud, impulsive nature. Quite ready to start, he had just 
lit a cigar, and the blue rings of smoke were wafted almost to 
the open window. 

“ I don’t say ‘beauty.’ Good heavens ! the ideas conveyed 
by that word are thousand-fold !” his friend Biidiger, whose 
voice had been heard as the footsteps approached, was saying. 
Every syllable was clear and distinct. “ I grant you, this 
little Liana’s nose is neither Grecian nor Roman. But what 
of that ? Her face is so exquisitely lovely.” 

Baron Mainau shrugged his shoulders. “Hm! — yes,” he 
said, in a tone of the lightest persiflage, — “ a modest, well-bred 
little girl, of a timid nature, with a romantic air and violet 

eyes, d la La Valli^re. I should say ” He broke off 

suddenly, as if weary of the subject, and pointed eagerly to 
a part of the landscape. “Just look, Rudiger! Whoever 
laid out this Rudisdorf park must have been a genius. That 
renaissance building there could not have been more effect- 
ively brought out than by that wonderful group of coppei 
beeches.” 

“ What of it ?” said Herr von Rudiger, slightly irritated. 
“ You know I know nothing about such things. The eye of 
a beautiful woman, now — her hair — good heavens, what braids 
those were lying at your feet before the altar !” 

“ Rather a pale shade of the Trachenberg colour,” Mainau 
lightly rejoined. “ No matter. Titian hair is the fashion just 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


37 


ftt present ; the novels are full of red-headed heroines, who are 
all desperately adored. ’Tis a matter of taste. I couldn’t 

endure it in the woman I loved ; but for my wife !” He 

brushed off from the terrace balustrade a few ashes from his 
cigar, and composedly smoked on. 

Liana instinctively drew her thick veil over her face,— 
aot even her sister, who was regarding the speaker with 
speechless anger and dislike, must see the blush of shame and 
humiliation that tinged her cheek. 

The Countess Trachenberg was walking in the garden with 
the clergyman. She approached and hastened up the terrace- 
steps. 

‘‘ One word, I pray, my good Kaoul,” she said, and put her 
hand into his arm. Slowly walking to and fro with him, she 
discussed a few commonplace matters until the two other 
gentlemen had moved away out of hearing. 

“Apropos,” she said then, suddenly standing still, “you 
must forgive a mother’s anxious heart for the question if I 
trench upon a delicate subject and ask, if I may, how much 
pin-money shall you allow Liana ?” 

The sisters could see the amused look with which he re- 
garded the mother with the “anxious heart.” 

“ Just as much as I allowed my first wife — three thousand 
thalers.” 

The countess gave a contented nod. “ Happy girl ! much 
more than I had as a young wife.” The man at her side 
greeted with a contemptuous smile the profound sigh that fol- 
lowed her words. “And, Raoul, you will be kind to her?” 
she added, with an affectation of emotion. 

“ What do you mean by that, aunt ?” he asked, in a quick, 
sharp voice and with a suspicious glance. “ Do you suppose 
me to be so devoid of courtesy and honour as ever to forget 
what is due to my wife, the woman who bears my name? 
More than that I have never prefunded to. I want a mother 
4 


38 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


for my boy, and a mistress of my household to take my place 
during my absence, and I shall frequently be absent. Know- 
ing this, you assure me that Juliana is a gentle, feminine 
creature, who will fill the position excellently well. Love I 
have none to give her, and I am conscientious enough to wish 
to arouse none in her.” 

Ulrika burst into tears and clasped her sister in her arms. 

“ For Heaven’s sake, do not be vexed, Raoul !” the countess 
entreated ; “ you entirely misunderstand me. I never thought 
of such sentimentality. I simply appealed to your forbearance. 
You saw yourself to-day how far the modesty of this ‘ femi- 
nine creature’ could carry her, in the bridal dress with which 
she surprised us.” 

“ That was of no consequence, aunt ; Juliana in all such 
respects may do as she pleases. If she understands how to 
adapt herself ” 

“ I’ll answer for her. Good heavens, it is a melancholy 
admission ! Magnus is a mere nonentity, a man of no energy, 
no force ; but what is detestable in him is admirable in his 
sister. Liana is an innocent child, and, when removed from 
the pernicious influence exerted over her by Ulrika, the evil 
genius of my house, you will be able to twist her around your 
finger as you please.” 

“ Mamma forms hasty judgments,” said Liana, bitteily, as 
the steps of the speakers died away in the distance. “ She has 
never taken any pains to know or understand me, — we were 
always left to strangers. Why are you weeping, Ulrika? Wq 
have no right to cast a stone at that cold egotist. Did I con- 
sult my heart when I placed my hand in his? I said ‘yes’ 
necause I was afraid of mamma ” 

“And for love of Magnus and me.” Ulrika completed her 
sentence in a hopeless monotone. “We did all we could to 
persuade you, — we wanted to save you from this dreadful 
home, and were so sure that you would find love wherever 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


39 


you went ; and now it is so cruelly, coldly denied you. You, 
so young ” 

“So young? Ulrika, next month I shall be twenty-one 
years old ; you and I have gone through many a bitter day 
together. I am not the child in experience and worldly wis- 
dom that mamma has just represented me. Have no fear ; 
let me go with Mainau. I do not desire his love, and I have 
sufficient pride to let him ‘be fully aware of it. The testimo- 
nials of my teachers as to my ability and proficiency should 
give me courage, since the Baroness Mainau, who goes to 
Schonwerth to-day, is in reality only a governess for little Leo. 
T shall have a wide sphere of action, and I hope to be able to 
do some good ; more I will not ask for. Now bid me good- 
bye, Ulrika. Stay here with papa till I am gone.” 

She embraced her sister repeatedly with passionate affection, 
and then flew through the gallery, without looking around 
her, and down the stairs to her mother’s room. Here she 
found Magnus standing at the window, looking out at the car- 
riage that was waiting at the gate of the court-yard, across 
which the countess was walking with the three gentlemen. It 
was well that she could not see her son, the “ nonentity,” the 
man of “no force,” clasping his sister in his arms, with tears 
of grief at parting from her. She would have been greatly 
disgusted at a display of feeling so “ unbecoming his rank.” 

Liana crossed the court-yard with a firm step, her veil 
closely drawn over her face. 

“ The blessing of Heaven and of your mother go with you, 
my dear child !” said the countess, with a theatrical gesture, 
holding her hand above her daughter’s head for a moment. 
Then, lifting her veil, she touched with her lips the forehead 
of the young wife. 

A few minutes afterwards the carriage was rolling along the 
road to the railway station. 


40 


THE SECOND WIFE 


CHAPTER V. 

After a four hours’ journey the travellers arrived at the 
capital. Here the splendour of her new life immediately 
greeted the bride, in the shape of the gorgeous and fairy-like 
equipage that was waiting to convey the party to Schonwerth, 
which was about two miles from the town. The snowy satiu 
of the cushions seemed made for a nest for some spoiled beauty, 
while the plain gray travelling-dress of the slender figure 
that leaned back, composed and silent, in one corner, looked 
almost like the sordid wrappings of some pauper child whom 
an enamoured fairy prince was carrying off from the forest to 
his palace. 

Herr von Rudiger took his seat beside Liana, and Raron 
Mainau sprang upon the box and took the reins. He sat 
there with an air of proud indifference, guiding the fiery horses 
that whirled the carriage along the smooth, broad road leading 
directly through a portion of the park. There gleamed the 
little lake, and above the fishers’ cots circled a fiock of white 
pigeons, — all else looked calm and lonely. Then the road ran 
ihrough a thick grove of giant forest-trees, with here and there 
an opening so contrived as to give glimpses of a sunny land- 
scape beyond, set like a gem in the dark masses of foliage. 

Suddenly, fifty paces in advance, a female figure on horse- 
back leaped into sight from a bridle-path, directly before the 
swift-rolling equipage. 

‘‘ Mainau! the duchess!” cried Herr von Rudiger, starting 
up in terror ; but the baron had checked his steeds, and they 
were walking slowly. A second lady followed the duchesa 
out of the thicket. They approached swiftly. The angel of 
death, riding over the lately-won field of battle, might well 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


41 


be imagined to resemble this princely rider, with her long, 
waving black robes, her masses of coal-black hair hanging 
down to her waist, too heavy to float on the air, and the 
ghostly pallor of her beautiful face, in which even the lips 
were now untinged with red. 

“ I wish you joy, Baron Mainau,” she cried, with a haughty 
wave of her hand, as he bowed profoundly. There was a world 
of scorn in the slowly-spoken, sharply-emphasized words, and 
in the tone of her full, deep voice. Did she thoughtlessly 
twitch her bridle, or did the flery animal that she rode shy, 
that she suddenly passed, like a flash, close to the door of the 
slowly-moving carriage? 

“ Do not rise, Herr von Rudiger,” she said, condescendingly, 
without looking at him, as he started from his seat, while her 
flashing eyes sought to pierce the veil of the shrinking figure 
among the cushions. 

In a moment the fair riders had passed. For a few seconds 
their two horses galloped along neck and neck, and the maid 
of honour leaned over towards her mistress. “ That little 
gray nun is really one of the red-haired Trachenbergs, your 
highness,” the rosy lips gaily declared. The noise of the 
wheels drowned her words, but Baron Mainau, looking back, 
saw the gesture that accompanied them. For the first time 
Liana saw that proud, triumphant smile of satisfied vanity ; 
for the first time she saw his eyes gleam with the fire that was 
so dangerous. He had never even glanced towards the corner 
in which his young wife sat. This indolent indifference was 
so unconscious that even Herr von Riidiger was forced to 
admit to himself that it had nothing in common with the 
depreciating repose of manner that the baron often affected, 
from caprice, in the presence of the most charming women. 

Again the fiery chestnuts tore along the high-road, so swiftly 
and madly that it seemed as if the few words of the princess 
to their master had turned the life in his veins to fire.. His 

4 * 


42 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


younj^ wife regarded his every movement attentively. This 
meeting in the forest had suddenly cast an illuminating ray 
upon her new existence. Now she knew why Mainau had no 
love to give her. 

They emerged from the forest, and entered the Schonwerth 
valley through grounds with which the ducal park could not 
vie. For a time a high railing, delicate as a cobweb, ran 
parallel with the road, and far within this gray wire veil a 
strange foreign growth rose into the blue air, while gorgeous 
scarlet flowers gleamed here and there, like branches of coral 
above a sea of verdure. Then, for a few seconds, a hedge of 
mimosa shut out the view, but suddenly opened, disclosing, 
in startling contrast, a brilliantly-painted Hindoo temple with 
a gilded dome. The transparent bluish waters of a little lake 
washed the lowest of its broad marble steps, and in the fore- 
ground, upon the smoothly-shaven lawn, stood a huge steer 
his broad brow turned towards the rippling water. It was all 
like a sunny dream of fairy India. As the wire gauze ended, 
the scene vanished without a trace. Again the reverend 
lindens rustled, and the dim flrs drooped their^ boughs above 
the clover-blossoms of the meadows. 

One more winding through dark, ancient elders, and the 
carriage entered upon a broad gravelled road, and stopped before 
the lofty portals of the castle of Schonwerth. 

Several lackeys in livery rushed forward, and the major-domo 
in dress-coat and white waistcoat opened the carriage-door with 
a profound bow. Several years before. Liana had been an 
unseen witness of how the young forest-ranger at Rudisdorf 
had brought home his bride, taken her from the carriage with 
eager joy, and carried her across the threshold of her new 
home in his strong arms. This bridegroom threw the reins 
to his groom, and, advancing with cool but gracious courtesy, 
took the left hand of his young wife lightly in his cwn and 
helped her to descend from the carriage. Then, with a rathei 



THE SECOND WIFE. 


43 


firmer clasp, drawing the involuntarily reluctant hand through 
his arm, he conducted the new mistress of Schonwerth across 
its threshold. 

She seemed almost to he entering a cathedral, so lofty and 
majestic was the arch of the doorway above her head, and 
such a “religious light” came through the coloured glass of the 
pointed windows of the spacious vestibule. Those resplendent 
reflections, that threw a crimson stain from the robe of a 
Madonna upon the echoing floor, and painted the red porphyry 
of the wall with green from the dome of palms above a sleep- 
ing Holy Family, were all false, frigid sunlight; even the broad 
carpet upon the marble stairs, soft and elastic though it was, 
completed the impression everywhere intentionally produced, 
of some abbey or religious house ; it was rich with the wealth 
of colour, but poor in the stiff, conventional patterns of th^ 
latter period of Byzantine art. 

Scarcely had they entered when Mainau stood still, looking 
in angry surprise and inquiry at the major-domo. The man 
bowed almost to the floor, and cleared his throat behind his 
hand in great embarrassment. It was easy to see that he would 
not for worlds meet his master’s eye. “ I could not, sir, in- 
deed,” he said, softly. “ The Herr Baron would not allow 
the orange-trees to be placed here, and we had to take down 
all the wreaths, on account of the late lamented baroness.” 

The face of the castle’s master flushed crimson. Noiselessly 
the swarm of lackeys dwindled away; but the pitiable flgure 
of the major-domo — who could not leave his post — grew more 
pitiable still. The dreaded outbreak, however, found vent for 
the present in a contemptuous smile, which was not pleasant 
to look upon. 

“I am mortified, Juliana,” he said; and the struggle to 
control his temper was audible in his voice. “And I am 
powerless to adjust matters. In Budisdorf there were flowers 
to walk upon, and here you enter an undecorated home 


44 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


Excuse my uncle ; this ‘ late lamented baroness ’ was bus 
daughter.” 

He left hei no time to reply, but strode along, preceded by 
the breathless major-domo, and followed by Herr von Rudiger, 
conducting his young wife up the grand staircase, through 
gorgeous apartments, parallel with which ran a mirrored gal- 
lery. Liana saw herself reflected by the side of his stately, 
well knit flgure ; in form and bearing they were well matched ; 
but what a gulf yawned between the two souls that had that 
day been knit together by a formula of words sanctioned by a 
priestly blessing! 

The major-domo, with signiflcant solemnity, threw open a 
pair of folding-doors. The young wife was seized with a kind 
of vertigo. In spite of the enormous thickness of the walls 
and the height of the vaulted ceiling, it was sultry and hot in 
the gallery: the whole force of the July sun poured through 
its uncurtained windows; and in this spacious apartment 
a bright fire was burning in the chimney. Thick tapestry 
covered the walls and the floor, and draped windows and 
doors ; everywhere was evident the greatest anxiety to produce 
warmth and shut out fresh air. And in this heavy atmosphere, 
which was filled to stifling with the odour of various powerful 
essences, sat a shivering old man. His feet held out to the 
blazing logs were covered with a silken quilt, and suggested 
entire immovability, while there was an almost youthfully viva^ 
cious grace in the upper part of his figure. He was clad 
in a black dress suit, and above his snowy cravat looked out a 
delicate, shrewd face, upon the invalid pallor of which the 
strange mixture of daylight and firelight cast a ghastly hue. 
This was the Hofmarschall, Baron of Mainau. 

“ My dear uncle, permit me to present to you my young 
wife,” Mainau said, with laconic brevity, while Liana threw 
back her veil and curtsied. 

The old man’s little brown eyes looked keenly in her face. 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


45 


“You kuow, of course, my dear Raoul,” he said, slowly and 
deliberately, without turning his eyes from the blushing girl, 
“that I cannot welcome the young lady as your wife until our 
Church has sanctioned your marriage.” 

“I certainly never knew until this moment, uncle,” Mainau 
hastily replied, “to what astounding lengths your bigotry 
could carry you, or I should have protected myself from ite 
consequences.” 

“ Tut, tut, tut ! don’t lose your temper, my good Raoul*. 
A mere matter of faith, which no noble nature would quarrel 
about,” said the Hofinarschall, soothingly. There was no 
doubt about it — this weak old man, with the intellectual face, 
was afraid of the menacing voice of his nephew. “Mean- 
while, I bid her welcome as the Countess Trachenberg. It is 
an excellent name.” 

He tumed to Liana and held out his hand. She hesitated 
to commit her own to the clasp of those white, lean fingers; 
she was possessed by a kind of indignant dread. She knew 
that the marriage ceremony was to be repeated this very day, 
according to the rites of the Roman Catholic Church. The 
Mainaus were all Romanists; but that the Protestant cere- 
mony performed at Rudisdorf should here be declared utterly 
null and void, was a blow indeed. 

The old baron avoided all notice of her hesitation, and, 
instead of her hand, took in his one of her thick, hanging 
braids. “ Most beautiful !” he said, gallantly. “ No need 
to mention your ancient and honourable name, — you carry 
ts insignia everywhere with you. It was so in the cru- 
sades. Nature is not often so complaisant as to preserve 
through generation after generation such stamps of race as 
the full nether lip of the Hapsburgs and the red hair of the 
Trachenbergs.” He smiled graciously, — such a smile as follows 
an intentionally complimental remark. 

HeiT von Rudiger was seized with a slight attack of cough- 


46 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


ing, and Mainau turned to the nearest window. There stood 
little Leo, motionless, keenly scanning his new mamma as he 
leaned with boyish grace against a huge dog, across whoso 
back hung the child’s right hand holding the famous whip. 
The group was a study for an artist. 

“ Come here, Leo, and speak to your mamma,” Mainau 
ordered, in a tone of evident irritation. Liana did not wait 
for the boy to approach her. From all these miserable sur- 
roundings, the child’s lovely face, in spite of its hostile ex- 
pression of defiance, beamed upon her like a ray of comfort. 
She passed on swiftly to where he stood, and her lovely face, 
like a flower, bent down to his. “ You will love me a little, 
will you not, Leo ?” she whispered. It was like an entreaty, 
and there was a kind of sob in her low voice. 

The hostile look faded from the boy’s large eyes as he gazed 
into his new mamma’s face. Down fell the whip on the floor, 
and two childish arms were flung around her neck. 

“ Yes, mamma, I will love you,” he declared, after his own 
frank, honest fashion. He looked across her shoulder at his 
father. “ Papa, it is not true ; she is not a bean-pole at all, 
and her braids are no more like our ” 

“ Hush, Leo, — rude fellow I” Mainau cut short the child’s 
revelations. He was evidently mortified and painfully embar- 
rassed, while the old man’s lips and eyelids quivered with 
suppressed laughter, and Herr von Kiidiger had another attack 
of coughing. 

“ Good heavens ! what has that poor fellow done ?” he sud- 
denly interrupted his diplomatic manoeuvre to ask, pointing to 
one of the darkest corners of the room. There knelt Gabriel 
with bowed head before a chair, his hands folded on a huge 
book that lay open upon it. 

“ Master Leo has been obstinate, and the worst punishment 
I can devise for the wayward fellow is to let Gabriel suffer in 
his stead,” said the Hofmarschall, composedly. 


THE SECOND WIFE 


47 


“ What ! are whipping-posts the fashion again at Schon- 
worth?” 

“ It would be better for us all if they had never gone out 
of fashion,” replied the old man, with a sneer. 

“ Stand up, Grabriel,” Mainau ordered, turning his back 
upon his unde. The boy arose, and Mainau, with a sarcastic 
smile, took up the thick book of legends from which the poor 
scapegoat had apparently been forced to read aloud. 

This embarrassing scene was interrupted by the entrance 
of the major-domo with a waiter of refreshments. Irritated 
as the old man was, he cast a keen glance of scrutiny at the 
contents of the silver dish that was handed to him. 

“ That idiot spendthrift in the kitchen must have a lesson,” 
he muttered, angrily. “ Such a quantity of expensive ices I Is 
he insane?” 

“ The young baron ordered it,” the major-domo made haste 
to explain, in a low tone. 

“ What is the matter ?” asked Mainau. He threw the 
folio upon the chair again, and approached with a frown on his 
brow. 

“ Nothing of any consequence,” his uncle said, with a timid 
air. He was terrified, and blushed like a girl convicted of 
some petty misdemeanour. “ Pray, my dear countess, take 
off your hat and eat a little of this pine-apple ice, — ^you 
must need refreshment after your hot journey.” 

Liana stroked little Leo's brown curls caressingly and kissed 
his brow as she turned away. “ I must decline, Herr Hof- 
marschall,” she quietly replied. “You deny my right to the 
position or the name of Baroness Mainau. It is impossible 
that the Countess Trachenberg should outrage decorum and 
good breeding by remaining among gentlemen in a strange 
house without female protection. May I request to be shown 
some apartment to which I can retire until the performance 
of the ceremony ?” 


48 


THE SECOND WIFE 


Perhaps the old gentleman with the keen diplomatic physi- 
ognomy had never before received so decided a repulse, oi 
perhaps he had thought to find in so plainly-clad and girlish 
an exterior only a timid bearing and the humility of financial 
inferiority, for he opened his eyes to their fullest extent, and 
their undeniably-intellectual expression gave place to a thor- 
oughly disconcerted air. Herr von Riidiger rubbed his hands 
quietly in malicious enjoyment, and Mainau looked round in 
speechless surprise. Had “ the modest little girl of a timid 
nature” really said that? 

“ Oho ! we are very sensitive, my little countess,” said the 
Hofmarschall, with an embarrassed clearing of his throat. 

Mainau stepped to his young wife’s side. “ You mistake 
very seriously, Juliana, if you suppose that your right to the 
position of mistress of Schonwerth can be disputed in the 
smallest degree,” he said, in a voice that betrayed the struggle 
he was undergoing for self-control. “ In my eyes, the ceremony 
at Rudisdorf was all-sufficient. It gave you my name forever, 
and you need pay no heed to whatever is said to the contrary 
within these four walls. Permit me to conduct you to your 
apartments.” 

He offered her his arm, and, without bestowing any fiirthei 
notice upon the old man, led her from the room. As they 
traversed the mirrored gallery he did not speak. Upon the 
staircase, however, he paused for a moment. “You have been 
insulted, and my pride is as sensitive to the insult as your 
own,” he said, more calmly than he had spoken before; “but 
I pray you to consider that my first wife was the daughter of 
ihat sick man, his only child. A second wife must submit to 
be an object of jealous suspicion to the relatives of the first. 
I must beg you to be patient until the force of habit shall as- 
sert itself. I cannot leave Schonwerth and live with you upon 
some other of my estates. It is especially needful that Leo 
should have a mother’s fostering care, and the boy miLst re- 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


49 


main here. I cannot deprive his grandfather of his only 
grandchild.” 

Liana silently descended the stairs. She found it almost 
impossible to speak to this cruel egotist, who had thus fettered 
her to his side to confront such annoyances. 

“ You will readily conceive that I can cherish no other de- 
arc than to escape hence,” she replied, at last, indicating 
through the open door which they were passing, the sunny 
landscape outside. “Were it not for the thought that my 
immediate return to Rudisdorf would deny in my own per- 
son the authority of my Church ” 

“You would find such an undertaking very difficult of ex- 
ecution,” he said, coldly, walking by her side along a columned 
corridor on the ground-floor. “I need not assure you that I 
should scarcely allow myself to be so compromised. Hm — • 
yes — marriage and separation so nearly simultaneous would 
be a precious nut to crack for the worthy souls who cross 
themselves devoutly at my eccentricities and extravagances. 
I am usually quite ready to furnish them material for gossip, — 
why not, indeed? But so charming a scandal I think I must 
deny them.” Here he dropped her hand from his arm and 
opened a door. “ These are your apartments ; pray have every- 
thing* in them arranged to your liking. Of course, any altera- 
tion that you may suggest will be attended to immediately.” 
He entered after her, and glanced around the suite of rooms 
crowded with every imaginable luxury. There was an evil 
mixture of scorn and discontent in the smile that flitted across 
his handsome face. “They were Valerie’s; but do not be 
afraid,” he said, falling into the frivolous tone of persiflage that 
made women “tremble like lambs.” “Her soul was as flut- 
tering and airy as the precious cobweb laces in which she loved 
to envelop its mortal frame. Besides, her severe piety pro- 
vided her, doubtless, with angel wings. She is in heaven.” 

He rang for her maid and presented her to her mistresa 


59 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


•^hen, reminding Liana that in an hour he should come for her 
to attend the fulfilment of the Romish marriage-rite, he left 
the room before she had time to reply ; while the maid imme- 
diately slipped into the adjoining apartment to arrange every- 
thing for her mistress’s toilette. 


CHAPTER VI. 

And there the young wife stood, alone in the midst of all 
these strange surroundings. For one moment she gave way 
to an almost insane burst of grief. She ran through the 
apartments, trying the lock of every room. No, she was no 
prisoner ; even the glass door, leading from one of the rooms 
into the open air, yielded to her touch ; nothing prevented her 
from fleeing from the place. But whither? Had she not 
come here of her own free will ? Could she not have said 
“ No,” in spite of her mother’s menace and her brother’s and 
sister’s entreaty? She had stupidly persisted in a terrible 
mistake ; and for this persistence her school-life was to blame. 
Most of her fellow-pupils — daughters of the most ancient 
nobility — ^had never dreamed of marrying except as their 
parents should decide for them, and had left the pension 
to form what were called brilliant matches ; nay, one young 
girl. Liana knew, had been warmly attached to a man of no 
rank, and yet she had submitted, without a murmur, to a 
marriage arranged for her by her mother with an elderly count. 
Under the influence of these experiences, and confirmed by 
her mother’s and sister’s words. Liana had supposed that no 
great amount of resolve would be necessary to embrace the 
lot marked out for her ; it was the natural result of circum 
sAnces. Magnus and Ulrika had wished to rescue her from 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


5 . 


her wretched home, and she had allowed herself to be rescued 
She had not the slightest right to reproach Mainau with hav- 
ing deceived her. She had brought him nothing but an earnest 
desire to fulfil her new duties faithfully. The scales fell from 
her eyes I She was separated forever from all she loved, and 
had nc hope of any indemnification for the sacrifice she had 
made. She must maintain an icy demeanour towards the 
husband to whom she was bound. He could not love her, and 
had no desire to be loved by her. A long, long life among 
strangers lay before her, and there was no hope of sympathy 
in any direction. 

She looked up ; her eyes rested upon shining blue satin, and 
she noticed for the first time that the glittering fabric sur- 
rounded her everywhere, as if she were sailing in air. Judg- 
ing from the bitter irony with which Mainau had spoken of 
her, the woman who had dwelt here must have been a way- 
ward, spoiled creature, prone to fits of childish impatience. 
She might stamp her little feet and throw herself about here 
as she pleased. The carpet, rich with blue flowers, was luxu- 
riously thick; and there were cushioned lounges and chairs 
everywhere. In the small boudoir adjoining, no wood was to 
be seen : shining blue satin on all sides. Liana opened one of 
the windows. The former mistress of these rooms must have 
lived upon the fragrance of the jessamine. The air here was 
heavy with it; it clung to the curtains and hangings. Just 
then, when the second wife by this act took possession, as it 
were, of her domain, did not the “fluttering, airy soul” that 
ought to thave flown to heaven on “ angel wings,” rise to the 
blue satin ceiling with an indignant sigh? Certain it is that, 
breathed forth as it were, and yet distinct. Liana heard a 
woman’s cry. She stood still, with bated breath, and listened. 
The maid entered to tell her that everything was ready for her 
toilette. 

“What is that?’’ Liana asked, as she was about to pass into 


62 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


the adjoining room, and the strange sound was repeated. This 
time it came unmistakably through the window. 

“ There are ^olian harps hanging in those trees, madame/' 
the girl replied. 

Liana looked out and shook her head. “ There is not a 
breath of air.’ 

“ Perhaps it comes from over there, where the woman has 
been lying sick for so many years,” was the rejoinder; and the 
girl pointed to the high wire-work fence, behind which arose 
a gleaming, crimson obelisk^ “I do not know; I only came 
here a week ago. No one seems to care much about her. The 
servants say she is living upon the Herr Baron’s charity, and, 
sad enough, she has never been baptized even. I would not 
go in there for the world, my lady. I am afraid of the huge, 
ill-tempered ox; and the trees are full of monkeys, — ^hateful 
little brutes!” 

Liana went into the next room and silently resigned herself 
to the hands of her talkative maid. The silver brocade was 
now donned; and when, half an hour afterwards, Mainau 
entered the blue boudoir, he was evidently startled. The 
“bean-pole” understood how to wear her gorgeous train; and 
her neck and arms were of such incomparable beauty that 
only an entire absence of personal vanity or coquetry could 
have kept them hitherto so modestly concealed. A wreath 
of orange-blossoms nestled among the luxuriance of the de- 
spised red hair, which shone against the background of blue 
satin as if sprinkled with golden dust. 

“I thank you, Juliana, for so wisely suppressing your pref 
erence for simplicity, and appearing in my house as becomes 
your rank,” Mainau said, kindly, but not without surprise in 
his tone. 

The long, dark eyelashes were raised — those were no “ pale- 
blue, violet eyes, d la La Valli^re,” — a pair of large, dark 
gray orbs, intelligent, but now gloomily grave, looked full inUi 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


53 


his own. “ Do not rate me too highly,” she replied, calmly. 
“ It was not love of simplicity that sent me so simply dressed 
to the altar at Rudisdorf, — rather pride, arrogance, if you will. 
I know perfectly well that manv a lady in the Rudisdorf mar- 
ble gallery wears ermine upon her robe. I, too, have a right 
t43 do so, and shall know how to maintain it ; and therefore I 
30uld not wear this borrowed splendour” — and she swept 
her hand across the rich folds of her skirt — “ to trail through 
my ancestral home, not one stone of which is now lawfully 
our own. I thought its rustle would arouse all the Trachen- 
bergs sleeping in the chapel-vaults, and surely never could 
sleep be more welcome to them than at present. Here I 
represent your name ; your gift belongs here.” 

He bit his lips. There was something like unwelcome 
amazement in the gaze that now rested upon the delicate lips 
that spoke so calmly, and now sought to penetrate the depths 
of the eyes so fearlessly raised to his. 

“ I think the Trachenbergs might awake with some com- 
fort,” he said, sarcastically. “ Their notorious pride of birth 
lives still, and knows how to assert itself ; surely that might 
console them for the empty coffers to which you have just 
alluded.” 

She made no reply, but walked slowly and gravely across the 
threshold of the door which he opened for her with an almost 
ironically profound bow. As he now passed along by her side, 
he was no longer the frivolous man of the world who had con- 
Jucted her to the altar in Rudisdorf with such easy grace, no 
longer he who had controlled his fiery steeds to follow with 
proud glances of triumph the fleeting princess. At this mo- 
ment he was undergoing the same struggle that his young 
wife had just passed through. He evidently repented the 
step he had ventured to take in reliance upon the assevera- 
tions of the Countess Trachenberg. She had falsely promised 
him a wife “ whom he could twist around his finger.” There 

6 * 


54 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


was still time , — his Church had not yet spoken the word that 
binds eternally. Suddenly the rustle of the long, heavy train 
ceased, — the young wife hesitated to proceed ; she drew her 
hand from within his arm. He too paused, of necessity, and 
turned upon her the gaze that had become so thoughtful ; a 
glance at the deep pallor of her face perhaps told him all that 
was passing within her mind, for, with a contemptuous smile, he 
took again the hand she had withdrawn, and passed it through 
his arm, where he held it firmly for the moment, and walked 
on through the bower of green that had been erected before 
the brazen doors of the chapel. He was resolved, and she 
went with him, but not like a lamb led to the sacrifice. No > 
the haughty princess in the marble gallery could have found • 
nothing to complain of in the majestic carriage of her grand- 
child, — no outward tremor betrayed the quick throbbing 0/ 
her heart. 

And with what splendour the mockery was to be conducted 
here ! From a wealth of silver such as Liana could not re- 
member at Rudisdorf even in its ancient glory, hundreds of 
lights glittered around the altar, and the orangery which the 
old invalid had banished from the halls had been transported 
hither to grace the holy rite, — a spreading forest laden with 
blossoms. Stifiing clouds of incense, through which the light 
of the candles sent feeble rays, and the declining sun beams 
of glistening gold, were wafted among the pillared aisles; as 
through a mist Liana saw the bowed heads around her, the 
trimson silken cushion upon which lay the white folded hands 
of the Hofinarschall, and the gorgeous vestments of the offici- 
ating priest glimmering down from the steps of the altar. 
There he stood, lofty and commanding. She shrank as she 
encountered his gaze; a strange gleaming fire shone in the 
eyes of this man, which were riveted upon her own, — not until 
she shrank shyly did he turn them heavenwards ; and then 
his voice rose sonorous, thrilling above her head, telling of 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


55 


love and submission for ever and ever. Ob, wbat blasphemy ! 
The simple words of the clergyman at Rudisdorf had left her 
unmoved ; this burning eloquence threw a dazzling light upon 
the black mockery and lie that were here enacted, — it made 
every word a dagger, a barbed arrow. The young wife trem- 
bled before this priest as he gazed at her, and — she knew not 
why — her hands suddenly sought her veil and drew it closely 
•cross her breast and arms. 

But this day, the hardest, the most momentous of her life, 
at last drew to a close ; the moment came when she could shut 
behind her the door leading from her apartments into the col- 
umned corridor and cut herself off from the remainder of the 
castle. She sent away her maid, disencumbered herself of her 
bridal dress, and put on a white wrapper. Rest was impossi- 
ble ; lonely and among strangers, in her home-sickness she 
must see and touch some object from home. She hurriedly 
opened a little trunk that she had ordered to be placed in her 
room. A sheet of Latin composition in her own handwriting 
lay on top; involuntarily she started, and cast a timid glance 
at the large picture in oil hanging opposite. Yes, that was 
he, with his handsome, enigmatical face, which could mirror in 
one brief moment fire and ice, gentle kindness and withering 
scorn 1 She shuddered at such contradictions ; she hastily 
rolled up the manuscript, — even those painted eyes must not 
see the writing. 

“ Mainau will soon cure you of your pedantry,” the Counts 
ess Trachenberg had said, and this very afternoon at table, in 
consequence of some allusion to “ women’s rights,” he had de- 
clared, with disgust in look and gesture, that he did not know 
which woman he most detested, one who neglected her chil- 
dren from vanity and love of frivolous enjoyment, or the blue- 
stocking who banished her children from her room that she 
might compose verses or learned essays, — an ink-spot on a 
woman’s hand was more detestable than the ugliest birth-mark 


56 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


She went to her writing-table to hide there all evidences 
of her former intellectual pursuits ; it was of rosewood, deli- 
cately and artistically carved. What thoughts had that “airy, 
fluttering soul” transcribed here ? The scenes represented in 
these carvings hardly accorded with the “severe piety” of 
their former possessor. Liana opened one of the drawers : it 
was filled with rolls of money, — evidently her stipulated pin- 
money. In terror she shut it again and turned the key ; the 
money was buried. This discovery, and the heavy jessamine- 
laden air of the room, drove her to the glass door of the 
adjoining apartment. 

Behind the closely-drawn curtains she had not noticed 
that the full moon was high in the heavens outside. She 
started, — so foreign, so dazzling, lay Schbnwerth, among 
jagged mountain-peaks, partially covered with a splendid forest 
growth, circling it like menacing dragons’ teeth guarding a 
gleaming jewel. She stepped out beneath a roof supported 
upon pillars j what a contrast between the modern arrange- 
ment of the apartments she left and these huge groups of 
columns gray with age, soaring aloft in severe beauty, and 
supporting arches, faultless in proportion, that stood out clear 
against the moonlit sky ! Not a breath of wind was abroad, 
and yet it must have stirred among the tops of the trees, foi 
now and then there was borne down from the jEolian harpi 
an isolated note, thrilling the nerves like the dim spirit-tone 
that slumbers in glass. 

In the solemn stillness of the night there was suddenly 
heard the sound of a hasty step, and Liana glided into the 
shade of a group of columns, as a childish figure came running 
round the northern corner of the building. It was Leo. Hh 
little naked feet were thrust into slippers, his green velvet 
breeches, evidently put on in a great hurry, were held up by 
both hands, and his night-dress, trimmed with lace, fell open 
and away from his shoulders, letting the moonlight play upon 


/ 


THE SECOND WIFE. 57 

!lie child’s white, hiiely-formed neck and bust. He looked 
cautiously around him, and then ran directly to the wire 
fence. With a quick, noiseless step. Liana stood behind 

him. 

“ What are you doing here, Leo ?” she asked, holding bin 
in a firm grasp. 

The boy uttered a little scream of terror. “ Oh, it is the 
new mamma !” he said, instantly, evidently greatly relieved. 
“ Shall you tell grandpapa?” 

“ Most certainly, if you are going to do anything wrong ” 

“ No, mamma,” he declared, in his decided way, shaking the 
disordered curls from his brow ; he had certainly been in bed. 
“ I only want to give Gabriel these chocolates. I did not take 
them myself, indeed, mamma ! Herr von Rudiger laid them 
on my plate at table. I always save them for Gabriel, but 
sometimes I cannot find them in my pocket, Fraulein Berger 
is so fond of them ; she is munching all day long, — horrid 
thing!” 

“Where is Fraulein Berger now?” asked Liana. 

“ She is playing pawns in the school-room. They do as 
they please there ; and they are having punch, too : I smelt it 
as I passed the door. I have not been allowed to see Gabriel 
again to-day, because I was too naughty ; but indeed I must 
say ‘ good-night’ to him. May I, mamma ? Yes ? May I ?” 

He begged with boyish impetuosity, but at the same time 
in that delicious tone of confidence that is a child’s right 
towards a loving mother ; it sent a thrill of joy through hei 
heart ; this child with the defiant eyes submitted at once, and 
voluntarily, to her maternal authority. Like a gentle ray of 
moonlight, a melancholy sensation of pleasure descended upon 
her. soul ; she clasped the little fellow in her arms and kissed 
him tenderly. 

“ Give me the chocolates, Leo ; I will take them to Gabriel. 
Yon must go back to bed now,” she said, holding out her hand 
c* 


68 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


for them. “ I will say ‘ good-night’ to him, too, for you. But 
where shall I find him? 

He eagerly turnea his pockets inside out and emptied their 
contents into his mother’s delicate, beautiful hands. She 
smiled ; certainly it would never have done to let his grand- 
father know of this chocolate treasure ; his half-muttered com- 
plaint with regard to the expensive ices had not escaped her 
quick ears. 

“ You must go past the pond, — in there,” the boy replied, 
heaping her hands with the chocolates and then pointing 
through the wire fence; “but you must not go into the house; 
grandpapa has forbidden it, and Fraulein Berger says there is 
a witch in there with long teeth. Stuff! I’m not afraid. 
She never bites G-abriel.” 

Liana drew the child’s night-dress up over his shoulders, 
and, taking his little hand in hers, led him back to the castle. 
A lamp hanging from the ceiling threw a dim, dreamy light, 
through a coloured glass shade, around the child’s bedroom. 
A king’s son could not have been more luxuriously bedded 
than was this scion of the Mainaus. But what availed the 
poor child all these silken hangings and lace coverlets ? His 
slumbers were unwatched, although a bronze angel spread its 
gold-gleaming wings above his bed and held back the curtain 
with both hands. From the school-room came muffled sounds 
of laughter and the clinking of glasses. Liana thought that 
the spirit of the child’s departed mother must wander angrily 
through these rooms, and write a “ mene, tekel,” above the 
heads of guardians so dead to duty as these. 

“ Mamma,” said the little fellow, stroking her cheek, as she 
carefully covered him up, “ it is too nice when you are here I 
Shall you stay always ? My other mamma never came to my 
bed. And you will certainly go to Grabriel and take him the 
chocolates ?” 

She promised that she would. He laid his head perfect! y 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


59 


content upon the pillow, and in five minutes his breathing 
testified that he was sound asleep. Then Liana left the room, 
closing on the outside the door through which the boy had 
made his escape. 


CHAPTER VIL 

The clock was striking half-past ten when Liana returned 
to the grounds before the windows of her apartments. Gray, 
transparent, like the train of the wandering Dame Saga, the 
wire fence wound through them. The whipping-post, as Herr 
von Rudiger had called him to-day, the pale, silent scape-goat, 
must have been asleep long since. He had small part in the 
mysterious attraction that drew Liana towards this enclosure. 
She turned and looked back at the castle. A fiood of moon- 
light poured down upon it from the heavens, and in its gray 
pride of antiquity, with its massive arches, its trefoils, its 
arched windows with their lace-like tracery, and its patron 
saint in a projection of the wall, it looked like an ancient 
abbey. Behind the glass panes no light was to be seen except 
where the lamp from her salon sent forth a yellow gleam into 
the obscurity of the columned walk outside. Some one seemed 
to be leaning against a pillar there, watching the half-opened 
glass door. An illusion, doubtless; not a grain of sand 
stirred beneath the feet of the supposed watcher. There W£tf 
no motion in the figure ; it was only the shade cast by the 
column. 

The grated gate swung to behind her, and Liana was walk- 
ing upon the light gravel of a narrow pathway, still over- 
shadowed by boughs of familiar hazel- and juniper- bushe». 
Upon the open lawn shot uf the straight trunk of a banan?* 


60 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


palm, and the moonlight threw the shadow of its gigantic 
leaf upon the smooth sward. Then the path led through a 
dark thicket ; sparks of fire moved everywhere around — the 
fireflies were abroad. There was a rustling in the branches 
above: a broken twig fell upon Liana’s shoulder; here and 
there a little arm was thrust forth after her, and cunning, in- 
quisitive monkey-eyes peered into her face. Involuntarily she 
put her hand to her brow, as if to dispel a feverish dream. 
Would a cobra glide hissing from the thicket, or some huge 
elephant break his way through the trees to destroy her ? She 
hesitated. A httle guinea-fowl ran across her path ; a few 
steps farther, and bush and tree receded, while before her 
lay the pond, smooth and motionless as a sheet of silver un- 
rolled upon the grass. The Hindoo temple raised to the 
skies its gleaming dome as firmly as if its steps led directly to 
the waters of the Ganges, instead of to a pond in a German 
valley. 

With a deep-drawn breath, and the shudder that so easily 
assails us in strange solitudes and yet lures us irresistibly 
onwards. Liana slowly walked around the pond. She did 
not know with what a fairy life her flitting figure in white 
sweeping robes, her head borne so proudly with its diadem 
of deep red gold, invested the strange foreign landscape. Nor 
did she dream that the creaking of the gate by which she 
had entered had stirred from its place what she had thought 
the shadow of the pillar, to follow her noiselessly, but so closely 
that it seemed as if from the heavy braids which ghttered in 
the moonlight there streamed a magnetism that compelled him 
to follow. 

And now the white walls of a low cottage appeared. A 
broad gravel-path ran around the square enclosure in which it 
stood literally imbedded in rose-bushes, or rather in the roses 
themselves, for they were in bloom everywhere, growing high 
and trailing low ; some branches of the tea-rose lay across th« 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


61 


path, the pale, heavy blossoms drooping on the hard gravel aa 
if drunken with moonlight. 

It seemed as if a strong blast of wind could blow away the 
cottage, it was so light and gracefiil, with its roof of reeds, and 
its veranda sustained by props of bamboo. Its windows were 
large, but a carved wooden trellis in front of the glass pro- 
tected each one. With some hesitation Liana ascended the 
reranda steps ; the floor was carpeted with matting, as cool, 
smooth, and shining as an Eastern foot could desire. There 
was light behind the trellis : it came from a lamp suspended 
from the ceiling of the room. The hanging curtain was drawn 
aside just where there was an opening in the carving of the 
trellis, and through this Liana could see a great part of the 
interior. Against the opposite wall of the room stood a bed- 
stead of reeds, and upon its snow-white coverlet a flgure was 
stretched. Was that delicate creature, whose head was buried 
in the pillows, a woman or a child ? Soft folds of white mus- 
lin enveloped the lithe form to the feet, which lay exposed, 
naked, small, and white as wax. One arm, slight and thin 
like that of an undeveloped girl of thirteen, was bare to the 
shoulder, and lay listlessly along the thigh, its wrist and upper 
part encircled by broad glittering rings of gold, which seemed 
as if they must chafe the tender white flesh. But the 
stout woman standing by the bed with a silver spoon in her 
hand, and modulating her rough voice to tones of gentle en- 
treaty, was already known to Liana. She had been presented 
to her after the marriage ceremony to-day as Frau Lohn, the 
housekeeper. 

The spoon, which the woman was carefully holding away 
from her white apron, evidently contained medicine, and was 
an object of disgust to the figure lying upon the bed. All 
her coaxing, and gentle stroking of the buried head with 
the large, powerful hand, availed nothing. 

“ I cannot help you, Gabriel,” said Frau Lohn, at last, turn- 
6 


62 


TRh SECOND WIFE. 


ing to the side of the apartment that Liana could not see 
“ You will have to hold her head. She must sleep, child, at 
all hazards.” 

The pale boy, Leo’s scape-goat, advanced within the circle 
of light from the hanging lamp. He gently tried to insert 
his hand between the pillow and the head that lay upon 
it. At his touch the head was suddenly lifted, showing a 
small, emaciated, but beautiful face, — the face of a woman 
Liana shuddered to her very soul at the expression in the 
large eyes raised to the boy in tender reproach and agonized 
entreaty. He recoiled, and his hands fell by his sides. ‘'No, 
no, I will not,” he said, soothingly, and his gentle voice trem- 
bled with pity and sympathy. “ I cannot, . Frau Lbhn ; J 
hurt her. I would rather sing her to sleep.” 

“ You might sing until to-morrow morning, child,” the 
woman replied. “ When she is as she is to-day, it will do 
no good ; you know that as well as I.” She shrugged her 
shoulders, but did not urge the boy further. 

What a tender heart must be throbbing in this woman’s 
square, robust frame, with her coarse, hard face, that had 
seemed so harsh and unfeeling when she was presented, a 
few hours before, to her new mistress ! 

Liana lifted the latch of the door between the two windows 
and entered the room. The housekeeper uttered a cry and 
almost spilled the contents of the spoon. 

“ Support the invalid,” said the young wife. “ I will give 
her the medicine.” 

The sudden entrance of the slender white figure, with its 
air of calm confidence, seemed to have a paralyzing effect upon 
the sick woman. She never moved, but, staring steadily into 
the lovely young face that bent above her, allowed the anodyne 
to be poured down her throat. 

“ There, my boy, it is all done,” Liana said, laying the spoon 
upon the table. “ It did not hurt her, and now she will 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


63 


sleep.” She gently stroked the boy’s dark hair. “You love 
her very dearly ?” 

“ She is my mother,” the boy answered, with a gush of 
tenderness. 

“ They are poor people, madame, poor and wretched,” the 
housekeeper interposed, in a hard, dry voice. Not a trace 
of the sympathy and pity that had characterized her pre 
viously could now be heard in ner tone, or seen in the ex- 
pression of her grave face. 

“ Poor ?” the young wife repeated, and involuntarily pointed 
to the glittering bracelets upon the arms of the invalid, and 
the chains of gold around her neck. Until now the eyes of 
the latter had been quietly fixed upon Liana ; suddenly they 
became wandering and anxious, and she clutched in her deli- 
cate left hand a small object hanging from one of the chains ; 
it appeared to be a little silver flacon. 

“ There, there ! be qiiiet ! madame will not take it from you,” 
Frau Lbhn said, harshly and authoritatively. “ The people 
are very poor,” she continued to Liana. “ They cannot eat 
those things,” and she pointed to the trinkets; “and indeed 
they do not reklly belong to the woman; the old Herr 
Hofmarschall could take that bauble from her too, if he chose. 
It is through charity, pure charity, that she is fed and allowed 
to live in this hut ; for she and her boy have nothing of their 
own in the world.” 

The housekeeper’s words grieved Liana’s very heart, espe^ 
cially when Grabriel, while they were being spoken, leaned 
over his mother and gently stroked her cheek, as if she 
were a helpless child to be shielded and caressed. This 
fair, boyish face, with the weary droop and the melancholy 
lines about the mouth, bore the impress of endurance and 
slavish submission that could only be the consequence of 
the oppression of years. Liana would have liked to ask, 
“ Who is this stranger, and how comes she to live here with 


64 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


her boy, who is condemned to bear so heavy a yoke ?” Bui 
the fear of hearing still harsher explanations from the house- 
keeper sealed her lips. She took from her pocket the choco- 
late bonbons and laid them on the table. “ Leo sends you 
these,” she said to Gabriel, “ and I bring you his good-night.” 

“ He is kind, and I love him.” replied the boy, with a mel- 
ancholy smile. 

“ That is right, my child ; but you must no longer be 
punished for his faults.” She put her forefinger beneath 
his chin, raised the drooping face, and looked kindly into his 
innocent eyes. “Have you not the courage to speak out 
when you are unjustly treated ?” she asked, with gentle 
gravity. 

A flush of surprise crimsoned the harsh features of the 
housekeeper; for a moment she evidently struggled with 
some strong emotion, but only for a moment ; then she gazed 
sullenly as before at her new mistress, and said, in a doubly 
harsh voice, — 

“ Madame, it does Gabriel no harm ; if they treat him with 
injustice at the castle, he must thank them, humbly thank 
them. He must be a monk, in a monastery, and he must 
learn to submit and be silent, even although his heart is like 
to burst with anger. He cannot love his little master Leo 
enough ; it is he who persuades the old Herr Baron to let him 
stay here, or he and his mother would have been sent away 
long ago.” 

The boy’s eyes filled with tears. 

“ You must be a monk ? Do they mean to force you, 
Gabriel ?” asked the young wife. 

“ Tell the truth, my son ; who forces you?” was spoken from 
Dehind her, in the voice of the priest who had officiated at hei 
marriage. He was standing upon the threshold of the doer 
from the veranda, his slender yet nervous figure strongly de- 
fined against the moonlit rose-bushes beyond. At sight of 


THE SECOND WIFE 


65 


him Liana instantly remembered the shadow of the column, 
— this man had watched and followed her. 

Frau Lohn curtsied as the priest entered, with a courtly 
obeisance, “ Have no fear, madame/’ said he ; “ we are per- 
fectly harmless at Schonwerth ; we really never commit such 
terrible deeds as those with which the story of the Mortara boy 
has acquainted the credulous world, eh, my boy?” And he laid 
his soft white hand familiarly upon Gabriel’s shoulder. 

Had it not been for the long clerical coat and the spot of 
smooth ivory on the top of the head, among the dark cluster- 
ing curls, one would never have suspected the priest in this 
man. In his manner there was not a trace of that studied 
deliberation which so often disgusts with its exaggeration, not 
a trace of assumed unction in tone or words. At table, a few 
hours before, there had been a hot debate concerning political 
matters, and this man’s voice had rung clear and full, like the 
warlike note of a trumpet. 

At his entrance the sick woman again buried her face in the 
pillow, and was so quiet that one might have thought her sleep- 
ing, except that her bosom rose and fell so hurriedly. She lay 
there like some timid, trembling bird in the grasp of a cruel hand. 

“ What has been the matter to-day, Frau Lbhn ?” ^ked the 
priest. “ She is greatly excited. I heard her moans in the 
sacristy.” 

“ Her highness the duchess rode past the houst; again to- 
day, your reverence, and of course we have had a terrible 
time since,” the housekeeper answered, respectfully, but not 
w'ithout perceptible irritation. 

There was a delicate shade of scorn in his voice as he re- 
joined, with a shrug, “ Then there is no help for it. The 
iuchess can hardly be expected to refrain from her ride 
through the ‘Yale of Cashmere/ who would have the courage 
to prefer such a request?” He approached the bed; a convul- 
Biv3 tremor was immediately visible in the sufferer lying thera 
B 6* 


66 


THE SECOND WIFE 


‘‘ With all your strict rule, you give way to her loo much, 
my good Frau Lohn,” he said to the housekeeper, over his 
shoulder. “ Why should there be those heavy bracelets on the 
weak limbs, those massive chains around the neck?” 

“ It would kill her, your reverence, if I were to attempt to 
lake them off,” said the woman, and her voice sounded -strange, 
compressed, as it were, as if coming through her closed teeth, 
while something like subdued fire sparkled in her deep-set eyes 

“You must be mistaken ; she is weak, and worn to a shadow. 
The weight of those things wearies her more than you would 
believe. Come, let us try.” 

The invalid opened wide a pair of horror-stricken eyes. 
Clutching her chains to her breast with her left baud, she 
wailed forth the same low yet piercing cry that Liana had 
heard at noon. Frau Lohn instantly stepped between her and 
the priest. She covered the little white clenched fist by the 
«ick woman’s side with her own large, bony hand. 

‘ Your reverence will forgive me,” she said, firmly, and there 
was an air of stern decision in her bearing, “ but this is my 
affair. If you agitate her, who will suffer from sleepless nights? 
I. I need not, to be sure ; I might refuse, as all the other 
servants in the castle do, to enter this cottage. I will not say 
that I do what I do from love or compassion. I am a rough 
woman, and do not wish to seem better than I am. These 
people are nothing in the world to me,” she continued, more 
calmly. “ If I come here and do all that I can for them, I do 
it for my employers, whose bread I eat.” 

“ No one thinks otherwise, my good woman,” the priest said, 
soothingly, and gently shook his head. “ Who could doubt 
the coolness and fidelity of Frau Lohn ? Let the invalid keep 
hei trinkets. I should be the last to make your duties moie 
difiicult.” 

Meanwhile the young wife went out, with noiseless step 
She longed to see the starry skies above her head, to feel tb% 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


67 


gravel cnincli beneatli her feet, that she might know she waa 
not wandering in the mists of some feverish dream, so strangf 
was the impression made upon her by the oddly-assorted group 
of human beings in the bamboo cottage. She seemed to have 
been looking at a picture full of anachronisms. That delicate 
foreign creature, lying upon her Eastern couch, draped in a 
cloud of white muslin, and laden with ornaments like an In- 
dian princess, and that strongly-built, rough woman, with hei 
German tongue, her white, starched apron, and the high horn 
comb in the grizzled knot at the back of her head, — ^it was an 
incredible companionship. 

The air that greeted her outside the cottage was faint with 
the odour of the roses. A soft wind had arisen, — it breathed 
through the sultry night, the silvery moonlight, and wafted 
over the garden a long-drawn note from an JEolian harp. Liana 
involuntarily laid her cool hands upon her throbbing temples 
as she descended the steps of the veranda. 

The Vale of Cashmere, the Paradise that the earliest living 
mortal could not understand, and so lost it to us forever!” 
said the man in priestly garb, who had followed her and was 
now walking by her side. “ Most men seek it, and, blinded 
by the curse, foolishly pass it by ; the ascetic sneers at its rap- 
tures and blots it from his plan of existence, until some light- 
ning-flash reveals to him that the curse is ndt inherited, but 
incurred by his own folly.” His voice was veiled, as if half 
stifled by the sultry July night-air. 

Liana paused and looked up at him. She was about to 
reply, when suddenly the blood rushed in a torrent to her 
cheek and brow, and her large, expressive eyes grew hard and 
cold as steel ; she could not pursue such a subject with the 
man gazing at her thus. She conquered an emotion of dis- 
gust, and said, coldly, “It is impossible to think of Paradise 
where such moans are heard as but now assailed our ear 
Who is the poor creature lying there?” 


68 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


The man’s cheek grew pale. Evidently irritated, h«i cast a 
dark side-glance at the youthful figure by his side, who with 
one haughty turn of her lovely head had so repulsed all ap- 
proach. It was the Countess Trachenberg, conscious of her 
long line of blameless ancestry. “Will it not insult your pride, 
madame, to know that Schdnwerth shelters a fallen woman?” 
he said, with keen irony. “ There is nothing more unrelenting 
than a woman’s pride of virtue, — it is a joy to its possessor ; 
but woe to those whose fiery hearts lead them astray ! I know 
that cold, chaste, critical gaze from a woman’s eye, — it cuts 
like a sword.” Strange utterances from the lips of a priest ! 
He turned, and, pointing towards the bamboo cottage, already 
hidden behind the hedge of roses, said, “ Who would dream 
that that poor crippled creature, whose feet and arms are 
already touched by death, had once danced in the streets of 
Benares ? She was a bayadere, a poor Hindoo girl, that a 
Mainau once stole from beyond the sea. This ‘Vale of Cash- 
mere,’ as it is called, sprang to life beneath a Grerman sky for 
her sake. Thousands were squandered to purchase a smile 
from her, to make her forget her native skies.” 

“ And now she lives at Schdnwerth on charity, and is given 
over to the will and pleasure of that harsh woman,” murmured 
Liana, with emotion. “ And her child, so ill treated here — ^ — ” 

“Madame,” interrupted the priest, “I would counsel you, 
for your own sake, not to judge the Hofmarschall so severely. 
It was his brother who outraged society by this love-aflFair. 
The man has been dead for years ; but the slightest allusion 
to the matter is still enough to irritate the old man excessively. 
He is a strict Catholic.” 

“ His rigid adherence to his form of faith gives him no right 
to oppress an innocent boy ; and that he does so, I can testify,” 
said Liana, firmly. 

They were just entering the obscurity of the grove. The 
young wife could not see her companion’s face ; but she heard 


THE SECOND WIFE 


09 


the embarrassed clearing of his throat, and after a moment’-', 
silence he said, with an odd kind of hesitation, “ I have already 
designated the woman as a lost creature ; she was treacherous, 
like all Hindoos. The boy has no more claim upon the house 
of Mainau than any other beggar at the gates of Schon worth.” 

Liana said not another word. She hurried on along the 
leafy path; the air seemed stifling beneath those drooping 
boughs. One of her braids was caught, as she thought, upon 
a projecting branch. She turned to disengage it, and touched 
a hand hastily withdrawn. She almost screamed ; the touch 
of a cobra could scarcely have made her shrink as did that 
contact. 

As they emerged from the gloom of the pathway, involun 
tarily she looked in the priest’s face; it was calm, almost 
stony. They walked on silently to the grated gate. As it 
closed behind them, the man stood still, and seemed for a 
moment to seek expression for the thought he wished to con- 
vey. Then, in a low tone, he said, “ This Schonwerth is 
dangerous ground for tender feet, whether from India or from 
our German nobility. Madame, there is a tempest abroad, 
and the war-cry is, ‘ Down with the Ultramontanists ! down 
with the Jesuits I’ They will tell you that I am one of the 
worst of these, a fanatical Komanist ; they will tell you that I 
have acquired in the fullest degree that ruinous power over 
those in high places for which the Jesuits all over the world 
are striving. Think regarding this as you please ; but if ever 
in moments of trial — and, believe me, such will not be wanting 
— ^you need a helping, protecting hand, call upon me, — I shall 
not fail you.” 

He bowed, and walked with a quick, elastic step towards 
the northern wing of the castle. Liana hastened back to her 
apartments. With trembling hands she locked the double 
doors behind her and jealously drew the curtains closer, that no 
prying eye might intrude upon her solitude. Never had ths 


70 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


fixture seemed so dark to her as at this moment, — never 1 — 
not even on that dreadfiil day when the hammer of the auc- 
tioneer had resounded through the halls of Rudisdorf, when her 
mother had wandered hither and thither wringing her hands 
and arraigning the justice of Heaven that allowed the last of 
the Trachenbergs to starve! For then Ulrika had seized the 
helm ; her strength of character had conformed their life to 
their means, and the saviour of herself and of her brother and 
sister had been labour, — labour, a more honourable support 
than the “ helping hand” of that priest 1 No, rather perish 
in those “ moments of trial” than seek assistance there ! 


CHAPTER VIIL 

The next morning Liana discovered, adjoining her dressing- 
room, a small, rather scantily-furnished, but cheerful apartment, 
e^ddently intended for her wardrobe. Thither she carried her 
press for plants, her books, and her painting-materials. This 
should be her study. Its large window afforded her pictu- 
resque views of the garden and the lofby wooded hills. She 
turned the key in the lock, and instructed her maid, when she 
entered, to arrange her wardrobe in some other room. The 
girl excused her tardiness by saying that she had been to mass; 
and, indeed, her clothes were redolent of incense. 

“His reverence the court chaplain,” she grumbled, “is 
too strict. Even the sick, who can scarcely crawl, must ap- 
pear at mass He often stays two or three days at Schbn- 
werth, where he has his own apartments, and rules more 
despotically than the Herr Hofmarschall himself It is just 
the same in the Residenz. The duchess thinks all the world 
of her chaplain.” And she ended her long-winded excuse with. 


THE SECOND WIFE 


71 


“Thauk God! he has just gone back to town.” Cheering 
news for her mistress also. 

A servant announced that breakfast waited in the dining- 
hall. This apartment closed the suite of rooms occupied by the 
Hofmarschall ; but the windows looked towards the east, and 
opened on the spacious court-yard. In brawling, thirsty, savage 
mediaeval times, no knightly hall could have rejoiced in more 
cumbrous oaken furniture, a greater number of stags’ and 
boars’ heads on the walls, or mightier tankards on the side 
boards. From the chimney-corner at one end, the bright 
light of a fire contended with the morning sunbeams, but the 
glow from the blazing logs did not extend far beyond the 
wheeled chair of the Hofmarschall and the white covered table 
beside it. The room was too spacious. 

The old man’s gouty feet must have been better this 
morning, for when Liana entered he had left his chair, and was 
standing — ^propped upon a crutch, it is true — at one of the 
windows, looking out into the court-yard. She saw his figure 
entirely in profile. He was a tall, thin man, and must once, 
like all the Mainaus, have been handsome, save that the 
outlines of his features were somewhat too delicate for a man. 
The decided depression between the forehead and the rise of 
the nose, and the small space between the nose and the chin, 
peculiarities that might have characterized the countenance 
agreeably in previous years, were now lurking-places for a most 
malicious expression. 

From the half-open door of the adjoining room came the 
noisy voice of little Leo. It had, in view of the figure at 
the window, a positively encouraging efiect upon the young 
wife as she entered. With the Hofmarschall, but at a re- 
spectful distance, stood the housekeeper. She had a book ind 
several papers — probably a housekeeping book and receipts— in 
her hand, but was craning her neck to look over the old gen- 
tleman’s shoulder into the court-yard. Not a feature betrayed 


72 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


any recoL iction of the previous evening, as her new mistress 
glided past her and politely greeted the Hofmarschall. He 
returned her greeting gallantly and courteously, but with 
obvious haste. All his attention was concentrated upon some 
object in the court-yard. 

There ! just look there !” he said, eagerly, to Liana, as she 
stepped to his side to look from the window. “ Those infamous 
rascals have been cutting boughs from the new plantations 
Vagabonds ! They know well enough that the hunting-whip 
hangs on the wall, now that I cannot walk. Ah, this time 
Raoul will make an example of them ! The shoe pinches him. 
The plantations are his work.” 

Baron Mainau must have just returned from an early ride. 
He wore spurs, had a riding- whip in his hand, and looked 
rather dusty. Before him stood the “infamous rascals,” a 
couple of village children, a boy and a girl. A field-guard, all 
in tatters, but with his brass scutcheon of office, had appre- 
hended them, and bore witness to their depredations in the plan- 
tations, grasping the boy by the shoulder the while. Heads 
peeped from numer us windows, and a stable-boy, who was 
lounging at the door of a carriage-house, watched with great 
interest the “ Herr Baron’s” riding-whip, which whistled to 
and fro in the air during the recital. The little girl, with her 
apron at her eyes, was crying bitterly, and the face of the boy 
was as white as chalk. 

The guard had finished. Baron Mainau’s voice was heard, 
loud and clear. He cracked his whip once or twice over the 
heads of the little delinquents, probably in menace of a thrash- 
ing in case of a repetition of the crime, and then pointed it 
towards the open court-yard gate. The little girl dropped her 
apron, and took to her heels ; the boy followed her example, 
and in a few moments they had vanished, amid the laughter of 
(he lookers-on. 

“ He’s a fool!” muttered the Hofmarschall, in a rage, and 


THE SECOND WIFE 


73 


hobbled away to bis wheeled chair in the worst possible humour. 
Frau Lbhn wrapped the quilt about his feet, stirred the fire, 
and then asked, in a monotonous voice, for further orders, 
pointing, as she spoke, to the book in her hand. 

“ Nothing more,” he said, peevishly, “ than what I havre 
ordered already. No more Madeira for the Indian hut. You 
must have lost your wits, Lbhn. Do you suppose I am made 
of money? Would you like me to order baths of wine? 
You are quite capable of it.” 

“ Just as you please, Herr Baron ; it is no affair of mine,” 
the housekeeper replied, indifferently. “ It is the same to me 
whether there be wine or water in the spoon that I give her. 
The new doctor says she must have Madeira ” 

“ Deuce take the fool and his prescriptions ! He has no 
business over there !” 

“ But the young baron himself ordered him to attend 
there, the day he was installed as physician to the castle,” 
the woman persisted, entirely unmoved by her master’s harsh 
words. “ He examined her, and has twice asked me — as if 
I knew anything about it — whether her condition were not 
the consequence of strangulation.” 

Meanwhile Liana had gone to the large round table whereon 
the breakfast had been placed. She was superintending the 
coffee, and stood with her back towards the speakers; but 
she turned suddenly in terror, and drew aside her muslin 
morning-dress, — such a shower of sparks came crackling forth 
from the chimney ; the Hofmarschall had thrust the end of 
bis crutch in among the blazing logs. 

“Leave the room instantly, Lbhn!” he growled, with 
flashing eyes, pointing to the door ; “ you bore me to death 
with your gabble.” 

The housekeeper marched dutifully to the door, and laia 
Her hand upon the lock. At its click the old man again 
thrust his stick furiously into the fire, but he turned his face 

7 


D 


74 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


towards the woman, and called her back. “Lohn !” he cried, 
“ you are the most insufferable woman I have ever known ; 
but you have one advantage over the rest of the castle pack, — 
you almost always know how to hold your tongue.” He 
cleared his throat. “Go on giving her the Madeira, if you 
choose, but by the teaspoonful, — do you hear ? — by the tea 
spoonful ; more will do her harm. And, once for all, I forbid 
these visits of the doctor’s. His examinations annoy her, 
and he can do her no good.” 

At this moment a scream was heard from the next room, 
followed by a storm of angry words from Leo, and a stamping 
of his foot. 

“Halloo! what is the matter in there?” cried the Hof- 
marschall. “ Where under the heavens is that woman 
Berger?” 

“ Here I am, Herr Baron,” the governess answered, appear- 
ing, with an injured yet humble air, upon the threshold. “ I 
have been here in this room all the while. Little Leo was per- 
fectly good at first ; but a little drawing fell out of Gabriel’s 
prayer-book. That boy is too stupid, Herr Baron. Instead 
of giving Leo the paper, he tore it out of his hand. ” 

Leo interrupted her, pushing her aside with his sturdy fists, 
and rushing past her into the room. In each hand he held a 
torn piece of paper. 

“ What did she tear it for? wasn’t she a fool, grandpapa?" 
he cried, in a rage. “ I did want the picture, to be sure, and 
Gabriel would not give it to me — that is true, too ; but 
what did she do but take his beautiful lion and tear it ip 
two pieces? Just look at that!” 

“ I congratulate you on your singular sense of justice, 
Fraulein,” the Hofmarschall said, with bitter sarcasm in his 
u)ne, to the governess, who had approached, and now looked 
uown in confusion. He took the pieces of paper and glanced 
At them. “ Gabriel !” he cried, in a tone of harsh command 


THE SECOND WIFE 


75 


The boy entered from the next room, and stood near the 
door, with downcast eyes, paler than usual. 

“ You’ve been daubing again, eh?” the Hofmarschall asked, 
briefly, almost closing his little eyes; and through the gray 
lashes a look like a poisonous dart was shot at the trembling 
child. 

Gabriel made no reply. 

“There you stand, as if you couldn’t count three, you 
aneak ! and on the other side of the wire fence you’re wild 
enough I know you, — spoiling expensive paper with your 
scribbling, and singing worldly songs as bold as a lark ” 

Liana, greatly moved, looked at the poor fellow. Those 
were the songs that the unhappy child had sung with a sad 
heart to soothe his mother’s excitement. 

The Hofinarschall rubbed the paper between his fingers. 
“ And what expensive paper is this that you have ruined . 
he inquired further. 

The housekeeper, who, with her hand upon the lock of the 
door, seemed to have forgotten to leave the room, now hastily 
came forward ; her face was perfectly calm, though the colour 
in her cheek was perhaps a shade deeper than usual. “ I gave 
him that, Herr Baron,” she said, in her short, decided way. 

The old man turned upon her. “ What do you mean, 
Lbhn? How dare you, against my express order and de 
sire ” 

“Oh, Herr Baron, Christmas comes but once a year, and 
a few pennies will buy a heap of thanks. The boy cares 
more for paper than for anything else in the world. I’m sure, 
I gave the coachman’s children a quantity of old rubbish, and 
no one thought any harm of it. I never know the whole 
year round whether Gabriel draws or writes; it’s not my 
affair, and I care nothing about it ; but I thought to myself 
at Christmas, ‘Let him draw a Madonna, if he chooses; there’s 
no sin in that!’ ” 


76 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


The HolTnarschall looked at her with profound suspicion 
“ I cannot tell,” he said, with slow emphasis, “ whether you 
are really the soul of stupidity, or — desperately cunning.” 

Frau Lohn bore his gaze with unruffled equanimity. 
*• God bless me, Herr Baron, I never in all my days wa> 
accounted cunning, — it must be stupidity.” 

“ Well, then, let me request you to be less stupid at Christ 
mas-time in future. Keep your pennies in your pocket, for 
the days when you can work no longer,” he growled, pounding 
his stick upon the floor. “ The boy shall not draw! — he shall 
not! it distracts his mind. Is that a Madonna?” he cried, 
holding towards her part of a very correctly drawn lion. “ I 
say, the scamp carries on all sorts of wild doings over there, 
and you are fool enough to help him. Answer !” and he turned 
angrily to the boy. “ What are you to be?” 

“ I am to enter a monastery,” was the low reply. 

“ What for?” 

“ To pray for my mother,” said the boy, and the tears trickled 
from beneath his drooping eyelids. 

“ Right, — to pray for your mother, — you were born for this. 
God sent you into the world for this. And if you wear your 
knees to the bone, and invoke God’s mercy day and night, you 
can never do enough. You know this, his reverence has told 
you this repeatedly, and yet you hanker after the things of this 
world, and put your wretched scribblings even in your prayer- 
book. For shame, you miserable fellow ! There, — ^go, — this 
Instant !” 

The boy’s lithe figure vanished like a shadow. 

“ And you, Lohn, collect all the Christmas paper that there 
is over there and bring it to me,” said the old man. 

“ Of course, Herr Baron,” replied the housekeeper, stroking 
iown her smooth, starched apron, — ^her hand was a little un- 
steady, but in all else she was unchanged, — as with an awkward 
curtsy she left the room. 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


77 


‘‘Grandpapa is horrid to-day,” Leo muttered to his govern- 
ess. In terror she covered his mouth with her hand. He 
thrust it away, struck it violently, and then rubbed his lips 
with his sleeve. “ You shall not touch my face with your 
cold hand. I cannot bear it !” he said, rudely. 

Liana waited in vain for a word of reproof from the Hof 
naarschall ; he was gazing into the fire as if he had not heard 
the blow given to the governess’s hand. “ You are a naughty 
child, Leo, and deserve correction,” the young wife said, at last, 
quite sternly. 

“ Oh, never mind; he meant no harm,” lisped the governess, 
as she tied the child’s napkin beneath his chin. “We behave 
very well indeed, do we not, Leo, my darling?” 

“ This will never do, Fraulein Berger,” rejoined the young 

wife. “ For the child’s sake, such training ” 

“ If you please, I act according to orders,” the governess 
pertly interrupted her, with a side-glance at the Hofmaxschall ; 
and I shall always strive to merit approval from the source 

whence they proceed. No one can serve two masters, and ” 

“ Will you allow me to conclude what I was saying, Fraulein 
Berger ?” Liana asked, with perfect composure, and yet with 
' such dignity that the governess was silent and cast down hei 
eyes. 

“ Permit me, if you please, to interrupt you, madame,” the 
old man now interposed. He was carelessly leaning back 
in his chair, lightly touching together the finger-tips of his 
outspread hands, while an odiously impertinent smile played 
about his mouth. “ Yesterday you made a very distinguished 
and yet charmingly girlish bride ; I assure you you pleased me 
far belter than you do to-day, in your self-imposed maternal 
dignity; that solemn air sits ill upon your youthful face. 
Whence, pray, comes this desire of yours to interfere in an 
affair of education? Not from your noble mamma, — certainly 
not, — I know her well ” 


7 * 


78 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


He said all this smilingly, facetiously, leaning back in liia 
chair, continuing the light touching together of his finger-tips 
and showing his well-preserved white teeth. 

“ Aha ! perhaps at your pension you may have perused Emile, 
by Rousseau of blessed memory, with or without the know^ 
edge of your worthy instructress, — ’tis all the same. Thos»' 
ideas were once very much the fashion, until most of the silb 
heads that harboured them fell beneath the guillotine. Madame, 
we are standing upon ticklish ground. The men who come 
after us must be of iron. We must sow dragons’ teeth, not 
what they call ‘ seeds of good,’ of which every modern school- 
master’s pockets are full, and of which they all brag so in 
public and private. And therefore, lady fair, never ruin your 
exceedingly child-like features by untimely severity; but let 
me continue, as hitherto, to direct matters. And now may I 
pray for a cup of chocolate from your white hands?” 

Liana placed a cup upon a small silver salver and handed it 
to him. She was perfectly composed, and seemed not one whit 
disconcerted either by the triumphant glance of the governess 
or by the sneering smile of the Hofmarschall. He looked 
up at her for a moment, and for the first time she gazed 
directly into the depths of those small clever eyes. They 
fairly sparkled with malice. This man was her implacable 
enemy, with whom she must contend so long as he lived : this 
she instantly acknowledged to herself And she was far too 
wise not to perceive that gently to submit was to be lost and 
trodden under foot: if she would maintain her position it must 
be by self-assertion, and, where it was possible, “ paying him 
back in his own coin.” 

He took her left hand and examined it. “A beautiful 
hand, — a truly aristocratic hand.” He gently felt the tip of 
her forefinger. “ It is very rough ; you have been sewing, — 
not embroidering — sewing, madame ; perhaps on the linen of 
your trousseau ? Hm ! these little pricks and scars must be 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


70 


smoothed away before we can present you at court. This test 
of a capable chambermaid hardly suits the finger of a Baroness 
Mainau. Heavens, how times are changed 1 What would 
‘Bed Boland of Trachenberg,’ wealthiest and mightiest of 
crusaders, have said to these little wounds ?” 

Liana looked down at him with a grave smile. “ In his 
time busy hands were no disgrace to a lady of rank,” she 
said ; “ and as regards our poverty, which these little wounds 
suggest to you, he might perhaps have been wise enough to 
say that the law of change is mightier than mortal will, and 
that the centuries which were to follow him could hardly pass 
without leaving their traces in many an ancient line. The 
Mainaus, too, have not always despised labour. I have searched 
among our family archives often enough to know, from the 
records of one of our ancestors, that a Mainau was for a long 
time his castellan, a man to whose diligence and fidelity his 
master bore cheerful witness. We found him a brave and 
honest servant.” 

She returned to the table, and poured out the coffee. For a 
moment there was perfect silence in the apartment. At her 
last words the Hofmarschall had raised his cup to his lips as 
hastily as if he were starving ; now she heard behind her the 
soft clatter of the porcelain in his hands ; and when, after a 
short pause, he asked harshly and authoritatively for som) 
toast, she handed him the toast-rack as graciously as if notliiiv 
had been said. He took and tasted a small piece, gadng fij 
eidly into the fire the while^ 


80 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


CHAPTER IX. 

“ Mamma,” said Leo, stretching out his arms to Liana with 
a caressing gesture, “ I will be good, and never slap Fraulein 
Berger again ; but please let me sit by you.” 

She placed him beside her, regardless of the angry look that 
was darted at her from the fireside, and prepared bis breakfast 
for him. Baron Mainau now entered the room through the door 
at the opposite end, and paused for a moment on the threshold, 
evidently pleased at what he saw. This was all right ; here 
was the mistress of Schonwerth as he had hoped to find her. 
She sat quietly by Leo’s side, dressed in a simple muslin 
morning robe, her face quite colourless in contrast with the 
rosy cheeks of the boy on her left, and against the light 
wainscot of the room her crown of heavy braids looked red, 
decidedly red. The majestic, imposing bride of yesterday had 
actually caused him a tremor. That charming figure, with its 
small, proudly-carried head, and the clear, incisive words upon 
its lips, had terrified him ; it was so far removed from the unpre- 
tending, insignificant girl whose timid, docile nature was what 
was needed at Schonwerth. The unwelcome discovery had 
weighed ever since upon his mind, had filled him with secret 
doubt and vexation ; he felt that he had been outwitted by the 
sunning old countess at Rudisdorf, and tied to a pretentious^ 
arrogant wife, who, constantly thrusting into view her long line 
>f ancestors and her own personal claims, might well endanger 
his freedom of action. But here she was fulfilling her duties 
as mistress of the household after so modest and unpretending 
a fashion that even the ugly governess looked quite passable 
beside her, and his whimsical old uncle seemed duly attended to. 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


81 


He came forward with a gay “ good-morning,” and with 
him there seemed to stream into the apartment all the fresh- 
ness and colour of the young summer’s day, so handsome, 
gallant, and debonair was his bearing. No one felt this more 
keenly than the invalid in the wheeled chair: he knitted 
his brows, and a regretful sigh escaped him ; evidently hia 
peevish temper was not improved by it. 

“Well, Raoul, how many of your famous Prunus triboJn 
saplings are left in the new plantation ?” he called out, with a 
sneer, to his nephew, who lightly touched with his lips his 
young wife’s hand. His smooth, broad brow was shadowed 
for an instant, but then he laughed. 

“ Those rogues ! they said they ‘ only wanted to build a 
house,’ and of course nothing would serve them but my splen- 
did Prunus,'^ he said, gaily. “ Fortunately, they were detected 
just as they were about to appropriate my choicest specimen. 
The mischief done is quite trifling.” 

“ It is not trifling, even if they only snapped a single twig,” 
the Hofmarschall interrupted him, petulantly. “It has gone 
too far. While I could walk, no one ventured to touch a leaf. 
Those insolent vagabonds must be punished ; an example must 
be made of them. I ought to have had that whip in my 
hand.” 

“ I take no satisfaction in thrashing such a squalling little 
thing, and the boy was too pale,” Baron Mainau said, care- 
lessly, going to one of the windows. What a contrast 
there was between his assumed nonchalance and his uncle’s 
peevish anger ! The old man turned towards his nephew, 
who was softly drumming with his flnger-tips upon the 
panes. 

“These paroxysms of benevolence will make you as- 
toundingly popular with tailors and cobblers, but youf 
equals will And them simply ridiculous,” the Hofmarschal* 
remarked. 


82 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


Baron Maiuau continued his drumming, but his face flushed 
slightly, 

“ My dear Raoul, as I contemplated that charming scene in 
the court-yard awhile ago, I was suddenly seized with a dread- 
ful suspicion that there may be some truth in what is said of 
you.’’ 

“ And what is said of me?” asked Baron Mainau, turning 
. ound. 

“Now, now, don’t be violent,” his uncle said, soothingly, 
his nephew’s figure, set in the recess of the window, as in a 
frame, was so commanding. “ Your honour is untouched, 
but it is said that you have exposed yourself to the charge 
of ridiculousness, by allowing the escape, upon humane 
grounds, of a notorious criminal. It is said that ‘ a person 
of rank’ aided that scoundrel Hesse, the poacher, who has 
been the terror of the Schbnwerth forest for years, to elude 
the officers of justice just as they were about to capture 
him.’’ 

Mainau’ s lips curled with a smile of contempt. 

“ Indeed? And has that little sin also reached your ears, 
uncle?” he asked. “ I cannot withhold my meed of praise for 
the spicier ; whithersoever the unfortunate fly turns he touches 
an invisible thread that carries back the electric spark to the 
centre. That man, that Hesse, was certainly a most tiresome 
fellow. He shot my finest stags before my very nose, and not 
for the love of sport, — in that case I might have winked at his 
offences, — but to keep himself from starving — -Ji d(mc! In the 
good old times the lords of Schbnwerth had a right to shoot 
such a rascal on the spot, and have a pair of gloves made of 
his skin. Heavens, what a sensation of power that must have 
given one! Think of drawing on your hands our beloved 
neighbour’s skin 1” 

The Hofmarschall wheeled about and looked sharply in 
the speaker’s face, them impatiently turned away ^ain, and 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


8d 

mth the end of his stick softly tapped the bronze ornamenta 
of the chimney-piece, thus keeping up a low ringing accom- 
paniment to what was said. 

“ The growth of modern ideas has proved fatal to most of 
the privileges of rank,” Baron Mainau continued, and what 
is offered us in exchange I do not choose to accept. The 
rogue who breaks into the tailor’s or the cobbler’s shop is 
treated just like my criminal, my poacher. I cannot endure 
that. As soon as he is out of prison again, having no more 
to eat than before he went in, he pops away at my game. 
Therefore I take the matter into my own hands, and put the 
fellow out of the way; in America he will do me, at least, 
no harm.” 

“ Foolery!” growled the old man, while Baron Mainau com- 
posedly walked up to the breakfast-table and stroked Leo’s 
curly head. “ After breakfast we must take a drive, my boy ; 
we must show mamma the pheasantry and all the beauties of 
Schonwerth. Will you go, Juliana?” he asked. She assented, 
without raising her eyes from the embroidery with which she 
was now occupied. 

He lighted a cigar and took his hat. Liana arose. “ May 
I ask you for a few moments’ private conversation, Baron 
Mainau ?” she said. Again she stood before him, tall, slender, 
inapproachable. He noted the exquisitely delicate skin that 
is so apt to accompany red hair, and looked into the passion- 
less depths of the steel-gray eyes so calmly raised to his own. 
He courteously offered her his arm. 

“ Take care of yourself, Raoul ! That lady fair has brough 
a pocketful of interesting information from Rudisdorf. Sli 
is as learned in her family traditions as a keeper of archives. 
I have just been informed that a Mainau was once servant to 
the noble Trachenbergs.” 

Mainau let fall the arm upon which his young wife’s 
finger-tips had lightly rested. Silently and gravely he walked 


84 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


to the door, opened it wide, and waited while Liana passed 
jut. 

She did not raise her eyes again until she found herself be- 
fore another door which was in like manner held open for her. 
As she entered there seemed to flutter out towards her from 
the Pompeian red of the opposite wall something like a wl ite 
cloud. That airy young creature, with the wayward turn of 
her pretty head, her narrow chest, sloping shoulders, and thin, 
childish arms, half buried in billows of costly lace, looked, in 
the heavy frame, like a white butterfly bound by a thread, in 
vain endeavouring to fly away. That was the flrst wife, and 
Liana saw, with a slight tremor, that she was in Hainan’s room. 
She walked to the window. 

“ T shall soon have finished,” she said, refusing the arm-chair 
that he ofiered her. She remained standing, but as she rested 
her hand upon the corner of a writing-table that stood in the 
recess of the window, she accidentally pushed a&ide one of 
the large photographs in medallion frames that were scattered 
about upon it. 

“ The duchess,” Mainau said, with a slight smile, as if by 
way of introduction, as he carefully restored the picture of 
the beautiful woman to its place. Then he drew down the 
window-shade a few inches; a sunbeam quivering across 
Liana’s forehead forced her to cast down her eyes. “ Well,” 
he said, as he was busied with the window, “ may I hear what 
you desire, Juliana? Was my uncle’s statement just now 
correct ? He was in a very bad humour ; your remark evi- 
iently irritated him.” 

“Self-defence, Herr Baron,” Liana rejoined, calmly, but 
very decidedly. 

“ What I did he venture to offend you again ? He prom- 
ised ” 

“It is of no consequence, Herr Baron,” she interrupted 
him, with a quiet wave of her hand. “ I see how ill he is, 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


85 


and shall never for one moment lose sight of his condition. 
Actual malice I shall understand how to repress, until it ceases 
to display itself” 

Mainau looked keenly into her face over his shoulder. 
“ That sounds extremely sensible,” he said, slowly. “ It would 
establish the peace in this household for which I have so 
longed. I assure you nothing so completely ruins all satisfac- 
tion and pleasure in travelling as the thought that matters al 
home are not conducted as they should be.” 

“ That is exactly what I wished to speak of, Herr Baron.” 

He smiled brightly and merrily. “ This will never do, 
Juliana,” he interrupted her. ‘‘Any one overhearing this 
conversation would burst out laughing. There is no help for 
it — you must have done with that formal title, if only for the 
sake of the castle servants, who would regard it as a most unfit- 
ting token of respect. I do not wish any such token, or rather 
— which is sad, but true — I am too full of faults to deserve it.” 

Involuntarily his eyes glanced from the finely-carved writing- 
table to the walls oi the recess in which it stood. In fact, they 
formed a kind of gallery of beauty, hung as they were with 
pictures in gilded frames, here and there a lovely, aristocratic 
face, a delicate, haughty head, among dancers and actresses in 
the most extravagant of toilettes and attitudes. In the centre 
of the table, — the most fitting place, one would have thought, 
for Leo’s picture — lay, upon a silken cushion, under a glass 
case, a faded, light-blue satin slipper. 

This kind of cultus among gay cavaliers was not new to 
Liana; she had heard enough of it among liv fellow-pupils 
at her pension ; but this was the first time she had ever been 
brought into contact with it, and she blushed crimson. Mainau 
noticed it. 

“ Reminiscences of miserable ‘ salad days,’ ” he said, gaily, 
tapping the glass case so smartly with his forefinger that a 
•harp note from it shrilled through the room. “Heavens! 

8 


86 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


how tired I am of the sight of it ! But a promise is a promise 
In a moment of enthusiasm I promised its wearer carefiillj? 
to preserve this token of her triumph, and now, whenever T 
write a letter, there it lies, in its more than respectable lene^ . 
and breadth, wounding both my sense of beauty and my v*^ aty ; 
for it tells of the time when I must have been an unc >imonly 
stupid youth. But, once for all, Juliana,” he saiu, suddenly 
interrupting this strain of ironical self-reproach, “ let me en- 
treat you seriously to adopt the easy, familiar tone with me that 
befits your position, and that will go far to smooth matters 
here for you. Let us be friends, Juliana, good comrades, who 
are well content with each other, without soaring aloft into any 
realms of sentimentality. And you shall see that, whatever 
fickleness I am accused of, I am thoroughly to be relied upon 
in friendship, — there I never deceive.” 

“ I agree, for Leo’s sake,” she replied, comprehending the 
situation with rare tact. “ I asked for this interview, Mainau, 
to tell you that the child has a most unsuitable guardian, and 
that you must instantly take steps ” 

He did not allow her to proceed. “ I leave all that to you,” 
he cried, with some impatience. “ Send the woman away on 
the spot, if you choose ; but leave me out of the affair. For 
Heaven’s sake, do not do as Valerie did ! She would have had 
me the sheriff of my household, and wept floods of tears to 
induce me to administer public reproof to her maid every 
time she pinned her mistress’s sash awry. Let us have no 
imbroglios at home, Juliana, I pray you. The more calm and 
unruffled the domestic life of Schbnwerth is, the more gratef il 
shall I be to my good comrade. And, besides, my uncle \t> 
already in treaty with a new governess, who is highly recom- 
mended.” 

Liana took some papers from her pocket. “ I should be 
very glad not to have her come,” she said. “ Perhaps at youi 
leisure you will look through these papers. It will not take 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


87 


you long. They are my school testimonials. 1 understand 
several modern languages thoroughly so far as their grammai 
is concerned. As to my pronunciation, perhaps you will take 
the trouble to judge for yourself. These testimonials are 
favourable in other respects ; but, in spite of that, I should 
Qot venture to undertake the boy’s instruction did I not know 
that I learn easily and with pleasure. You would really 
gratify me by accepting what I propose to make the busi- 
ness of my life, and intrusting your child’s education to me 
alone.” 

While Liana was speaking, Mainau had walked several times 
hastily to and fro in the room, and now he paused before her. 
with evident amazement in his look. “ Such words sound 
strange from a woman’s lips,” he said. “ I never heard their 
like before. Yet I would trust them implicitly if you were 
ten years older and had more experience of life, Juliana.” 
He glanced haJf-contemptuously towards the gallery of beauty 
in the windowed recess, and then his gaze rested for an instant 
upon the picture of his first wife. 

“ ‘ The tiger has not yet tasted blood,’ people say to self- 
confident inexperience. How many of those heads harboured 
virtuous resolves with regard to the business of their lives, 
until society sucked them into its whirlpool!” he continued, 
motioning towards the rows of miniatures. “ You were edu- 
cated at a pension, and had scarcely returned to your home 
when you witnessed — forgive me — the downfall of the Kudis- 
dorl magnificence. You do not know the enchanting charm 
that lies in the life that the Countess Trachenberg has drained 
to the dregs.” 

At this allusion to her extravagant mother. Liana blushed 
to the roots of her hair. “ How can I answer you,” she re- 
plied, in a low tone, “ since you do not believe that any girlish 
mind is strong enough 1o take warning from example? Let 
os be quite frank with each other, like good comrades,” she 


88 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


continued, eagerly. “I have laid out a plan for my future life 
as you have for yours, and I shall abide by it. First of all, let 
me entreat you not to put anything more in the upper drawer 
of my writing-table ; those rolls of money distress me more 
than I can express, and what should I do with them ?” 

Mainau laughed. “ Do you expect me to believe, Juliana, 
that you ask that question in good faith,” he said, “after 
assuring me yesterday that you should know how to maintain 
your right to wear ermine ? Where do you mean to wear it ? 
Hardly in the school-room. You will trail it majestically over 
ball-room floors at court, and you will soon find out what else 
yOur state requires. A time will come when you will entreat 
me to increase your pin-money. She” — and he pointed to the 
picture of his first wife — “thoroughly understood that, and 
you — ^you — will learn it.” 

“ Never !” cried the young wife, firmly, “ never ! And . let 
me say one word in self-justification. Yes, I am proud of 
my ancestors ; they were men of honour from generation to 
generation. I know no greater pleasure than in discovering 
all there is to learn of their lives. * I would never rate my own 
value by their merits. I should never allude to such hered- 
itary grandeur to those who attach no importance to rank and 
position. But when I encounter the arrogance and pretension 
of a wealthy aristocracy, then I clash my ancestral shield till 
it rings again.” 

He stood, with his arms folded, silently before her for a 
moment, and then said, slowly, “ I should like to ask why 
you have never shown those eyes in Schbnwerth until this 
moment, Juliana.” 

She hastily turned away the eyes that had glowed so elo- 
quently. “May I beg for a definite answer?” she asked, 
struggling with painful embarrassment. “ May I be Leo’s 
mother and only governess, and will you arrange that the Hof- 
marschall shall not interfere?” she added, with eager gravity 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


89 


“He will make all kinds of objections,” said Mainau, put- 
ting his hand to his brow ; “ but it shall not prevent me from 
giving you unlimited authority. We shall see which will 
conquer in your nature, — your self-elected ‘business of life,’ 
or the woman of the world, the daughter of the Countess 
Lutowiska” 

“I thank you, Mainau,’ she said, with an almost child-like 
joy, entirely ignoring the sneer contained in his last words. 

Ho would have kissed her hand, but she turned hastily and 
walked to the door. “No need of that between good com- 
rades. We understand each other,” she cried, with a charming 
smile thrown to him over her shoulder. 


CHAPTER X. 

pRAU Lohn now had, as she expressed it, a hard time of 
it And, as she said this, she nodded energetically, and angrily 
thrust the horn comb deeper into her knot of gray hair. Her 
patient was worse than ever, for the duchess rode past the 
Indian hut every day, “even when it rained cats and dogs.” 
Strangely enough, although it had been confidently prophesied 
in court circles that Mainau’s sudden marriage — “ that strange, 
hair-brained proceeding” — would dissolve his connection with 
the court and transform previous favour into bitter dislike, 
nothing of the kind ensued. The initiated whispered among 
themselves thatt he duchess grew gracious again so soon as 
she discovered that the new alliance was a “ mariage de conve- 
nance" in the fullest sense of the phrase, and extremely re- 
pugnant to the old Hofmarschall, who hoped that in time it 
would be dissdved. But what three wiseacres did not know 

8 * 


90 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


was that, in conformity with one of the mysteries of feminine 
nature which lie hidden in the bosom of the proudest aristocrat 
no less than in that of the meanest grisette, the duchess had 
never loved the haughty baron so passionately and humbly as 
since his fearful revenge, — since he had morally trodden her 
under foot. The “ red-head,” as the pretty maids of honoui 
had dubbed the new mistress of Schon worth, was no object 
of jealousy. The duchess, in her penetrating glance through 
the nun-like veil, had discovered no traces of beauty. The first 
wife, with her gorgeous toilettes and her piquant love of pleas- 
ure, had always been a welcome and flattered guest at court ; 
but Mainau had not even presented his second wife. Some- 
times for days together he remained in his bachelor apartments 
in the heart of the capital, and he was continually alluding to 
his contemplated journey to the East. All this served to con . 
vince the duchess that the thirst of his passionate nature foi 
revenge had been entirely satisfied by what he had done, and 
that the future fate of the tool he had made use of was a 
matter of indifference to him. 

Since the departure of the governess from the castle, which 
took place by Mainau’s orders a few days after his conversation 
with Liana, the visits of the court chaplain to Schbnwerth had 
been much more frequent; he superintended Leo’s religious 
education. There had been quite a scene between uncle and 
nephew ; the servants thought that the floor of the dining-hall 
must surely show traces of the angry thumping of the invalid’s 
cane ; hut his anger was entirely fruitless. Half an hour later, 
Leo’s bed was removed to a room adjoining Liana’s, and from 
that moment the young wife entered upon all her rights as the 
child’s mother and mistress of the house. For, although it 
was whispered among the servants that the Hofimarschall could 
not endure her, and that “the young master did not seem to 
think much of her,” all agreed that she was every inch a 
countess, and no one dared to treat her with any disrespect 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


91 


At first they were rather astonished to find how silently 
and surely the searching gray eyes detected all wrong and 
omissions of duty; but they grew accustomed to this “odd 
characteristic” when they found how willingly even the hous(s 
keeper opened doors and linen-presses for her young mistress’s 
inspection. 

Liana, after the decisive conversation, avoided all t§te-^-t^tes 
with Mainau, who on his part did not seek her society. He 
had never had another opportunity to admire her eyes. Even 
during the most interesting conversations or the most animated 
discussions between himself and the court chaplain at the tea- 
table, she sat so still, with her eyes riveted upon her eternal 
embroidery, that Mainau was convinced she was either saying 
over Leo’s verbs to herself, or reckoning how much soap had 
been used in the laundry. He, who actually dreaded “ German 
tediousness” like deadly poison, had in her person, quiet and 
passive as she was, formally established it in his household. 
And since all his new plantations were laid out, there was, as he 
expressed it, nothing for him to do at home for the next six 
months, and he was therefore energetically bracing himself for a 
journey. The vagabond blood of the Mainaus was stirring in 
his veins, he said, laughing, to the Hofmarschall one evening 
at the tea-table. 

The old gentleman was touchy, and protested in his own 
name and that of his noble ancestors against such an expres- 
sion; and a sharp discussion ensued, which threw a bright 
glare upon past events. Whilst Liana leisurely put in and 
drew out her embroidering-needle, she saw before her mind s 
eye the three brothers Mainau, about whom there had been 
much scandal and gossip thirty-five years previously. They 
had been handsome, gallant, and admired. That old man, with 
his faultlessly dressed gray head, and the fiickering flush of 
iiritation in his waxen cheek, was right in protesting against 
“vagabond blood.” He had found the atmosphere of a cour^ 


92 


THE SECOND WIFE 


alone suited to his lungs. He had always striven after the 
highest ideal, as the Countess Trachenberg was accustomed to 
say when she wished to intimate that she had once “ given him 
the mitten.” Occupying a place at court “befitting his rank,” 
he had married a wife “befitting his rank,” and might de- 
clare with a good conscience that his aristocratic feet had never 
trodden the paths of mediocrity. His eldest brother, on the 
contrary, had left home early, penetrated the icy regions of 
the north pole, and led a nomad life in Farther India. When- 
ever he appeared in the “ little courtly nest of gossip in the 
Herman cupboard,” his extravagancies and wild transgression 
of all conventionalities had kept his courtier brother in a con- 
tinual tremor. At last a lovely young heiress had bound 
him fast in silken fetters ; he had married her, and remained 
in the capital long enough to see her beautiful, loving eyes 
close in death, after the birth of her first child, whom he had 
christened Raoul, and to make his will. Then he had shaken 
the dust of Germany from his feet, and a few years afterwards 
the Herman ambassador in Brazil had sent home news of his 
death from fever. 

All this was spoken of, and Liana was tempted for one 
moment to pity her husband, so early left alone in the world ; 
but why? He was handsome, wealthy, full of the enjoyment 
of life, and in his irresponsibility heedless in the extreme of 
those around him. The whole world and its delights were at 
his fi;et, and he had been unscrupulous in his enjoyments. 
There he sat by the carping old man, looking after the blue 
rings of sn\oke that floated out of the window from his cigar 
to mingle with the last golden rays of the setting sun. 

“lovely Schbnwerth!” he cried, with smiling pathos, in- 
dicating with a wave of his hand the beautiful landscape 
rtretching before him. “ Most desirable of possessions ! We 
owe you to this same much-belied vagabond blood. Uncfe 
Hofmarschall would still have been staring from the windows 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


93 


of his town-house if Grisbert von Mainau had been content to 
stay at home.” 

The court chaplain was right in asserting that any allusion 
to the third and youngest of the brothers was sure to enrage 
the old gentleman. The Hofmarschall started up ; but the 
tempest that would have burst in fury above the head of an 
inferior was reduced to a finely pattering hailstorm in this case. 
Hastily putting his handkerchief, which lay beside him, into 
his pocket, and thrusting after it his vinaigrette and bottles 
of essences, he said, — 

“ Pardon me ; it is time for me to retire. My nerves have 
grown extremely sensitive to evening air and forced pleasantry. 
We cannot make ourselves stronger and rougher than we are. 
A strange thing is age. I have always been devoted to French 
customs, and now I have grown so quarrelsome, or rather so 
addicted to banter, that I find it utterly ridiculous when our 
German rage for imitation- betrays one into an attempt to walk 
in an uncle’s footsteps. My good Eaoul, you are very like 
your Uncle Gisbert; there’s no denying the resemblance. And, 
since it pleases you, let me congratulate you, and express my 
hope that you will faithfully follow in the path that he pur 
sued, and that conducted him at last to the true goal and to 
his eternal salvation.” 

“ Heavens, yes, — how deplorable ! Poor Uncle Gisbert ! — he 
grew feeble — and pious,” Mainau replied, with a cold smile, 
while the Hofmarschall dinned furiously at his little hand-bell. 

His servant appeared, to conduct him to his bedroom, 
Mainau waved him aside, and wheeled the old man’s chair to 
the door himself. 

“ You will allow me to show due respect to Leo’s grand- 
father,” he said, courteously, although in a formal tone, to the 
Hofmarschall, who stiffly inclined his head. Then the door 
closed behind the wheeled chair, and the baron returned to 
hifl place at the window. 


94 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


The young wife would have liked to gather up her work 
and also leave the room, for she was now alone with him, 
and had no fancy for hearing the man who could converse 
so brilliantly with his uncle or the court chaplain talk, 
as was always his wont at such rare moments, only of the 
most commonplace matters, without any attempt to conceal 
the effort he made to descend to so prosaic, unimaginative a 
realm. But she could think of no suitable pretext for leaving 
the room ; it was not yet time to put Leo to bed, — he had 
just put a bridle around Gabriel’s arms, and was noisily 
driving him up and down the flight of steps outside of the 
glass door. She therefore drew her chair near one of the 
windows, and began diligently to embroider a flery cactus- 
blossom by the failing light. 

“Does not this odd family to which I have brought you 
make you shudder, Juliana?” Mainau asked, with a half- 
smile, as be lighted a fresh cigar. “ You see bow every bedr 
upon my uncle’s head rises in horror at the thought that 
there may be a drop of this ‘insane blood’ of ours in his 
veins. He is right after his fashion, man of creeds and forms 
that he is ; and you, with your calm, impregnable, and very 
sensible views of life, agree with him. I know you well 
enough to see that.” 

Mainau paused, as if in expectation of a conflrmatory 
reply ; but Liana never even looked at him. She thought it 
entirely superfluous to contest a view that was evidently satis- 
factory to him. She threw back her head to try the effect of a 
new shade she had just introduced into her embroidery. Her 
delicate lips were flrmly closed, and the pale tint upon her 
velvet cheek did not deepen in colour. The youthful head, 
whose loveliness struck the observer afresh, seemed at this 
moment akin to marble in its want of animation ; and involun- 
tarily he wondered whether it was pride of ancestry alone that 
^x)uld fire the depths of that reserved nature. The next 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


95 


aaoment lie felt profound satisfaction in the thought tliat it 
W2& really so. 

“ That is most charmingly rendered,” he said, pointing to 
the cactus-blossom. “ I can understand how a calm feminine 
temperament can become so absorbed in this kind of occupa- 
tion as to be insensible to much that is disagreeable in her 
surroundings. You probably scarcely heard the little difference 
just now between my uncle and myself?” His tone sounded 
amiably indulgent, as if he would be glad to hear tha^ she 
really had paid little heed. 

“ I heard enough to wonder that you should care so little 
to carry out the programme which you yourself prescribed 
for me,” she said, with composure. “You desire a calm, 
passionless, smoothly-conducted domestic life ; and yet a few 
moments ago you did all that you could to irritate the Hof- 
marschall.” She never called the old man uncle. 

“ Dear Juliana, you are slightly in error,” he said, with a 
laugh, as he arose. “ The programme is not to be adhered to 
so literally while I am at home and can guide the reins as I 
choose. I certainly do not wish to drown myself in the 
stagnant waters of this tedious existence. I only do not 
want any quarrelling while I am away upon my travels,” he 
continued. “Heavens, what a flood of complaining epistles 
can come pouring in upon an unlucky traveller ! To what 
lengths Valerie could go in that direction! There they 
lie now, in the darkest corner of my writing-table, — those 
messengers of — affection. I have dutifully tied them up 
with delicate pink ribbon ; but I have never reopened them, 
for fear lest there might breathe out of them upon me 
the spirits of discord, tyranny, and childish caprice. And I 
was only the second recipient of it all ; the little woman 
had her admirable confessor, the court chaplain, always at 
hand, to whom she used to pour out every emotion of hei 
soul.” 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


An evil smile appeared and vanished like a flash upon hw 
handsome face. 

“ Bah ! what would you have?” he said, suddenly, after an 
interval of silence. He was standing at the open glass door, 
watching the two boys at play. “ I am certainly proud of 
my manner of dealing with my uncle, — as vain as a child is 
jf not eating a piece of cake that his mother gives him. 
Did you ever see me provoked ? Yet if you ask my beloved 
neighbours .about here, your hair will stand on end with horror 
at the tales they will tell you of my brutal violence. Here 
[ control myself, — principally, however, for the sake of the 
enjoyment of that self-complacency which others, happier than 
[, revel in all their lives long.” 

The young wife looked up, and her glance met his own. 
In their eyes there was not a trace of the lightning-flash that 
speaks of sympathy and mutual understanding. She said to 
herself that nothing upon earth but his own strong desire and 
will would ever have any power over the soul of this man, 
petted and spoiled by fate and the favour of women as he was ; 
and he took up his hat with a shrug, thinking that he could 
almost read in those gray eyes the number of crimson stitches 
that had been taken while he was speaking. 

“ I am going,” he said. “ Take care, Juliana, — the twihght 
is coming on, and the castle servants declare by all that is holy 
that Uncle Grisbert’s ghost still lingers in the recess of that 
window. He had himself carried thither as he was dying. But 
T. forget — stainless souls like yours have nothing to fear.” 

“ Spirits whom we neither fear nor love can have no power 
over us,” she replied, calmly, heedless of the sneer in his tone. 
’• I have no fear of Uncle Gisbert’s ghost, but I should like to 
ask it why he wished to die upon this spot.” 

“ That I can tell you. He desired that his last gaze should 
rest upon his ‘Vale of Cashmere,’ ” Mainau rejoined, stepping 
to her side and pointing towards the garden. “He had his 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


97 


grave dug beneath that obelisk. Ah, you cannot see the 
monument, — it is too much on that side, — there !” He sud- 
denly took her head gently between his hands to turn it in the 
right direction. His fingers sank deep in the red-gold masses 
of her hair. The young wife started up, shook ofl" his 
hands, and looked at him with undisguised resentment in 
her widely-opened eyes. He stood before her for a moment, 
'juite out of countenance; a sudden flush mounted to his 
cheek. 

“ I beg pardon. I startled both you and myself I did 
Qot know your hair would emit such spai*ks at a touch,” he 
said, in an uncertain voice, as he turned from her. 

She seated herself again, and went on with her embroidery. 
The same quiet air of repose as before pervaded her elastic 
figure ; but it did not now occur to Mainau that she was count- 
ing the stitches beneath her needle. His eyes rested upon the 
graceful neck below the heavy braids of hair, — it had been so 
pearly white, but now he marked the crimson flood stealing 
over it. He did not take up again the hat that he had laid 
aside. He was provoked by the antagonistic element ever 
ready to break forth in this “red-haired girl,” and still more 
provoked at having subjected himself in his carelessness to a 
repulse, and that, too, from an unloved wife. The only course 
was to ignore the circumstance. 

“ I could really find it in my heart to wish that Uncle Gis- 
bert could return and look out here,” he said, calmly, standing 
by the haunted window. “ He has been lying thirteen long 
years beneath that coloured marble, and in that time his favour- 
ite Indian plants and trees have attained a luxuriance that he 
Ciuld hardly have dreamed of. There is another bone of con- 
tention at Schonwerth. All that tropical growth must be 
enclosed in glass in the winter-time, and the animals that 
belong in it must be carefully tended. It involves a consider- 
able outlay. My uncle makes a fresh attempt every year to 
Q 9 


98 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


do away with the costly toy, and I am determined that not a 
leaf shall be destroyed.” 

“ And the human life transplanted by the German noble- 
man beneath these northern skies?” she asked, hei voice 
sounding sharp and stern. 

He hastily approached her. “ You mean the woman in the 
Indian hut,” he said. “ Look at that boy !” And he pointed 
at Gabriel. Leo had just sprung upon his back ; the delicate 
limbs of the improvised steed cantered patiently along beneath 
the little rider’s cracking whip. “ There is the type of the race 
that was transported hither, like some costly jewel from beyond 
the sea, — cowardly, servile, faithless as soon as it is assailed 
by temptation. I cannot endure the boy. I could far more 
easily forgive him a few bruises upon Leo’s back than the 
spaniel-like servility beneath that divine face of his. Leo, get 
down instantly!” he cried, angrily, with a frown, from the 
open door. 

Gabriel was just mounting the steps. He was heated be- 
neath the unwonted burden that he carried, but his face was 
pale, although the lovely outline of its regular oval was as 
firm and strong as if chiselled from faintly-coloured marble. 

“ Be off with you to your home 1” Baron Mainau called, 
harshly, turning his back upon him. 

The naif and yet melancholy smile that had hovered about 
the boy’s panting lips, as he ascended the last steps, vanished ; 
terror gave an added pallor to his cheek. It cut Liana to 
the heart to see how tenderly he deposited his burden upon 
the ground, and, as if involuntarily, passed his slight hand 
caressingly over Leo’s dishevelled curls. Poor fellow 1 His 
youthful soul was in the iron grasp of the Church and an 
orthodox aristocracy, and the imperious man, who alone 
possessed the energy and power to protect him, spurned and 
despised him. 

•‘Good-night, my dear child!” she cried after him, as the 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


Iboy ran noiselessly down the steps. Then she gathered hei 
working-materials together, and arose. Perfectly conscious 
of her want of influence, she uttered no word on the child’s 
behalf; but, as she stood there, in her whole air and carriage 
there was a protest against the conduct of the castle’s lord. 

He looked at her askance for one moment, and then lighted 
his cigar afresh. 

“ Do you see that magnificen ^ musa?” he asked, coldly, 
pointing to one of the banana palms in the Indian garden. 
“ It gratefully seeks the cold skies above it ; while the foreign 
human growth degraded itself to — the stable-yard. There I 
know no pity.” 

The young wife stood with her back towards him, arranging 
her work-basket. She did not raise her eyelids. 

“ Will you have the kindness to look at me ?” he said, 
sternly. For the flrst time his tone changed from that of the 
“good comrade;” he spoke like a lord and master; he was 
offended. “ I scarcely thought that my wife would gird on 
all the armour of her virtuous scorn and moral supremacy in 
the cause of this — ^bastard !” 

A shudder of the same dread as was inspired at home by 
the sudden sound of her mother’s imperious tones ran through 
her. In terror she turned her colourless face towards him ; 
what a lovely, innocent, girlish expression there was in the 
large, fnghtened eyes ! 

His vexed glance instantly grew gentle. 

“ Heavens, how pale you are, Juliana ! Yoil look at me as 
lied Kiding-Hood must have looked at the cruel wolf And 
there is an end, I suppose, to our good comradeship, eh ? I 
should be very sorry,” he said, with a regretful shrug, as if to 
express his grief for the probable loss of the carefully cultivated 
tedium of Castle Schdnwerth. 

“I will enlighten you a little about these matters,” he 
added, after pacing rapidly up and down the room once or 


100 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


twice. “ WheD Uncle Gisbert returned to bis Geiman home 
after his long absence, I was a boy of fourteen years, who 
fairly adored this Indian uncle without ever having seen him. 
Every one knew that he had accumulated an immense for- 
tune ; tales were told of his mode of life and his exploits that 
would have done credit to the ‘ Arabian Nights and when he 
Bent from Benares to purchase Schbnwerth, and had it laid 
out according to his fancy, the worthy citizens of our little 
capital opened their mouths and eyes in astonishment. I shall 
never forget him, never ; his gallant bearing, fine head, and air 
of brooding melancholy. His ‘ Vale of Cashmere’ was his idol^ 
and behind the wire fence there lived a creature who waf 
borne in a litter from the travelling-carnage to the Indian cot 
Those who were fortunate enough to bear in their arms for one 
instant during this proceeding the ‘pale lotos-flower of the 
Ganges,’ maintained that hers was no mortal form ; that she 
was an elf, created of air and sunlight.” 

Just so the strange foreign creature on the bed of reeds, 
half woman, half child, had impressed Liana, — a shape of air 
fettered to earth by those metal bracelets and necklaces. 

“ With the exception of my uncle the Hofmarschall, and 
the court chaplain, who was a simple priest then,” continued 
Mainau, “ very few came to Schonwerth ; the haughty bearing 
of its possessor repelled every one. I myself was permitted to 
make a visit here of but three days’ duration, when I shared 
the fate of the curious wives of Bluebeard.” He laughed 
gently, and knocked the ashes from his cigar. “ I did not sutler 
in life or limb, to be sure, but my uncle simply forbade my 
ever coming again. I thought more than was good for me oi 
the Indian girl behind the wire fence. Cross yourself, Juliana I 
I look back upon millions of follies where women were con- 
cerned ; I have swum through tossing waves to recover a lost 
breast-knot, and have drunk champagne from a dancer’s shc€, 
and why should not I begin by climbing over the wire feno.^ 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


101 


afc Schonwerth to see the woman whom Uncle Gisbert lovec 
so madly ? The gate was not locked, and the ‘ lotos-flower’ 
was certainly no prisoner, but I am convinced she did not wish 
to be bored by the beardless nephew of her lord and master, 
and so entrance to the ‘Vale of Cashmere’ was denied me. 
With my heart beating fast and loud, I crept through the 
thicket, and never looked up until — my uncle stood before me. 
ffe spoke not a word, but the smile of contemptuous pity 
which illumined his dark eyes for a moment so mortified me 
that I forgot all the pride of my budding manhood and took 
to my heels. That very morning my travelling-carriage was 
ordered to the castle gate, without any previous knowledge on 
my part that I was to leave, and I was assisted into it by my 
uncle, who, with a friendly farewell, sent me back to school, 
my ardour well damped.” 

He looked from the window towards the Indian garden 
with a smile. It was growing quite dark ; the low reed roof 
of the cot was undistinguishable amid the rose-trees, and 
only upon the golden dome of the temple did there linger a 
reflection of the fading light. 

“ I never saw my uncle again,” he said, after a pause, “ until 
his last wishes were about to be fulfilled, and the physicians 
were ready to immerse his dead body in some decomposing 
preparation. I had been summoned to Schonwerth from the 
university to attend the funeral. There he lay, beneath a white 
satin coverlet: instead of the balmy breath of the roses of 
the ‘Vale of Cashmere,’ clouds of frankincense floated around 
him ; there was no nightingale’s song, but, in its stead, miib 
tered prayers, and from priestly lips his praises were sounded, 
in that he had turned from evil ways to the true path of 
salvation, — no great credit to these dogmas,” he interrupted 
himself, “ that the soul should receive them first when it is 
crippled by a diseased body, when the nerve-fibres are all worn 
out, and the poor brain bewildeied by approaching death ! 

9 * 


102 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


Yes, that was the end — the pitiful ending of a life that had 
revelled in the poetry of existence.” 

The young wife was still standing beside her work-basket, 
unconsciously busy with the skeins of gay worsted. Beneath 
the huge arch of that window Uncle Gisbert had died— died 
with his gaze turned towards that creation of his fancy ; thr 
soul had gone home from the contemplation of that picture ol 
its evil ways,” in spite of clouds of incense and ecclesiastical 
formulas. A gray, ghostly twilight crept in at the broad 
window, inscribing in dark outlines a giant cross upon the 
oaken floor, and enveloping the speaker, whose voice rang all 
the changes from tones of gay self-disdain to those of angry 
contempt. 

“ I knew that a child had been born in the Indian cot,” he 
continued, after a moment’s silence; “I had seen it in Frau 
Lbhn’s arms. The little creature’s melancholy face touched me. 
There was no will, and, according to my conviction, the boy 
was chief heir. I maintained this, and a paper was shown 
me. Uncle Gisbert had died of a fearful disease of the throat; 
for months before his death he had been unable to speak, and 
had communicated only in writing with those around him. 
There are quantities of such papers there,” and he pointed 
to a lofty rococo cabinet. “ In that cabinet of curiosities of 
the Hofmarschall’s they are still preserved. This particular 
one repudiated, in the harshest terms, the woman in the 
Indian cot as false to him, and emphatically required that her 
child should be educated for the service of the Church. There 
was nothing else to be done. I cared nothing more about the 
matter. I was indignant then, and I am so still, that such a 
man should have suflered from a woman’s treachery. My 
uncle and I were the rightful heirs. We entered upon our 
inheritance. I was now master of the Indian garden; there 
was no longer any fear of encountering my uncle’s stately 
figure armed with that cutting smile of contempt, and tlio 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


idolized ‘ lotos-flower’ lay in the house with the ro »f of 
prostrated as if by an avenging thunderbolt ” 

“ Then you could see her/’ escaped Liana involuntarily. 

He turned, with a gesture of disgust. “ Do you think bo ? 
By no means !- I was cured forever ! A faithless woman is. 
beneath contempt. And then,” he shook himself, “ I cannot 
endure such diseased creatures ; every healthy fibre qf mj 
frame protests against them. The woman is astray in mind, 
— paralyzed, — and at times screams so that it pierces your ears; 
she has been dymg for thirteen years. I have never seen here 
and avoid the path to the Indian cot.” 

Liana put the cover upon her basket, and called Leo, who 
had been amusing himself outside with throwing stones. 

During Mainau’s narrative she had been half inclined to 
draw near him and follow his recital with sympathy, when 
suddenly the hateful egotism of his last words repelled and 
disgusted her; she wished for no closer approach to a man 
who, in his arrogant consciousness of health and strength, 
seemed to believe himself above all mortal ill, and who avoided 
the slightest contact with misery, lest it should endanger his 
enjoyment of existence. 

“ Say good-night to papa, Leo,” she said to the boy, whe 
rushed unpetuously to her and hung upon her arm. 

Mainau took him up and kissed him. “ You will not ask 
anything more about the woman in the Indian cot, Juliana ?” 
‘‘No.” 

“And I hope I shall not hear again that tender and an- 
tagonistic ‘ Grood-night, my dear child.’ You understand thal 
I must do as I ” 

“ My mind works slowly, and I need time to form a judg- 
ment,” she interrupted him. And, with an easy inclination 
she left the room with Leo. 

“ Pedagogue !” he muttered between his teeth, as he turned 
away. “ Bah ! she suits admirably, he instantly added, gaily, 



104 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


*»o himself, and, ordering his horse, rode to the capital, when 
he was to spend the night. 

An hour later, he said at his club, to his friend Rudiger. 
“ I have drawn a wonderful prize. My wife neither sings, 
paints, nor plays upon the piano. Thank Heaven, I shall 
never he bored by dilettante airs ! She sometimes looks pret- 
tier than T thought her at first, but she has no esprit, and nor 
the smallest idea of coquetry ; she can never be dangerous. 
She is not nearly so hornee as I thought her, and is much less 
sentimental. Her mind works slowly, and she will retain with 
all the perseverance of an unimaginative nature the opinions 
she imbibed at school ; so much the better for me ! I can 
describe minutely her future letters to me, — stiflF exercises in 
composition after the most approved school-girl fashion, with 
intelligence concerning domestic affairs thrown in ; they will 
never keep me awake at night. Leo has grown very fond of 
her, and learns well ; and she seems rather to impress my uncle 
by her natural coldness and the Trachenberg hauteur, which 
she brings into play very magnificently at certain times. 1 
shall leave here in two weeks.” 


CHAPTER XI. 

The duchess, with her two boys, announced her intentiou 
of paying the Hofmarschall a visit. There was nothing amaz- 
ing in that. During her husband’s lifetime the court had 
often spent an entire day at Schbnwerth, for the Hofmarschall 
was high in favour, and always overwhelmed with proofs of 
the royal good will as a trusty and faithful adherent of the 
ducal family. Even during her year of mourning, when the 
noble lady had refrained with exemplary strictness from every- 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


105 


thing like social gaiety, she had often, upon her rides through 
the ‘Vale of Cashmere,’ taken her afternoon cup of coffee in 
the castle of Schonwerth. Her beautiful face at such times, 
indeed, seemed to forget itself to marble amid the crape that 
surrounded it, until even the Hofmarschall, with all his cour- 
tier penetration, gradually became convinced of her intense 
attachment to her late husband. During Hainan’s engagement 
and since his marriage, however, she had not visited the castle, 
and had merely sent a friendly greeting from time to time to 
her old friend, whose gout was so much worse of late. 

But one afternoon Herr von Rudiger appeared and delighted 
the old man with the intelligence that on the morrow the little 
princes desired to pluck the early grapes and the dwarf-fruit, 
as was their wont every year in the Schonwerth gardens. The 
announcement was made at dessert. The Hofinarschall arose 
as if rejuvenated; he leaned his stick up in a corner, and, with 
a side-glance at the mirror, attempted to reach the nearest win- 
dow without support ; thence he beckoned to Liana, to whom 
he imparted his desires with regard to the kitchen and cellar. 

“ Here it comes !” said Hainan to his young wife, following 
her as she left the room. “ I gladly yielded to your desire to 
postpone your presentation until I should return from abroad ; 
but now, you see, the duchess forces you to appear before her 
to-morrow.” He shrugged his shoulders with an indescriba- 
ble expression of suppressed mirth, flattered vanity, and con- 
temptuous malice. “ There is no help for it.” 

“ I know it,” she replied, with perfect composure, takirg 
from her pocket a little memorandum -book, wherein she 
jotted down the Hofinarschall’s requirements as she walked 
slowly on. 

“ That’s well. Your composure of mind under all circum- 
stances is certainly admirable. I would like, however, to re- 
mind you of one thing, Juliana, if you will permit me. The 
duchess would regard anything like studied simplicity of attire 


106 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


with what might seem a rather offensive smile of contempi. 
ITour inclination to ” 

“ I hope you give me credit for sufficient tact to know when 
to conform myself to my own inclination and when to the 
duties of my position,” she gently interrupted him, as she put 
ep her pencil and closed her memorandum-book. 

Meanwhile, they had reached the corridor leading to Mai- 
tau’s apartments. There stood a couple of new Russia leather 
travelling-trunks that had been brought home during dinner. 
Mainau’s eyes sparkled at sight of them^ as if he saw himself 
already far away across vale and hill in the world beyond Castle 
Schonwerth. He lifted one of the trunks, and, while he was 
examining the straps. Liana turned aside towards Frau Lbhn’s 
domain. 

The Hofmarschall had silently acquiesced in her assuming 
the oversight of all domestic matters. A bed of nettles would 
have been ease compared with her new position in this respect. 
It was a continual strife with the grinding avarice of the old 
man, who counted every penny and was always suspecting 
robbery and deceit on every side. Added to this, there was 
his undiminished rage at Mainau’s second marriage. Liana 
was perpetually in arms against him. She knew that he 
watched her every motion as far as was possible, — that even 
her letters from home passed through his hands before thej/ 
reached her own. Those from her brother and sister probably 
seemed to him of little importance ; they seldom bore traces 
of having been tampered with. But a letter had arrived from 
her mother a few days before, the first since her marriage, 
-.u l Liana could not but see that its seal had been broken, — a 
doubly irritating fact in view of its contents. Countess Tra- 
chenberg had poured forth the most bitter complaints with 
regard to all that she was obliged to resign on account of her 
poverty. A residence of a few weeks at some watering-place 
was absolutely necessary for her health. Ulrika guarded ev?rv 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


107 


grcschen of their income like a dragon, and would give her 
nothing ; she therefore turned to her “ favourite daughter” and 
begged her to send her a small portion of her ample pin- 
money. The Hofmarschall’s piercing and malicious glance 
as he greeted her when, after receiving this letter, she made 
her appearance in the dining-hall, confirmed her in her 
suspicion that he had read it. 

This continual warfare was entirely concealed from Mainau 
In his presence the Hofmarschall ruled his features and hie 
tongue with all the skill of the accomplished courtier, and as 
for complaining to the man who desired peace above all else. 
Liana never dreamed of it. 

It was three o’clock in the afternoon when she entered 
the large saloon, the glass doors of which opened upon the 
fiight of steps outside; from these steps the Hofmarschall 
wished to salute the duchess as she drove up the approach. He 
was already in the apartment, talking with the court chaplain, 
who was sitting beside him. 

As the young wife entered, a sudden illumination seemed 
to flood the room. She wore a half-train of azure silk, with 
a waist of velvet of a darker shade. The efiect of the ex- 
quisite blue in contrast with the dark golden gleam of her 
waving hair was wondrous. Wide sleeves lined with silk 
fell back from the shoulders, leaving the arms bare, except 
for their covering of delicate lace, — the same that waa 
gathered to the throat from the square-cut neck of the dress. 
Even in her silvery bridal attire the faultless form of the 
“ Trachenberg,” the pure and delicate complexion of the 
“ red-head,” had not shown to such advantage as to-day. 

“ Much too early, madame !” the Hofmarschall called out 
as she entered. “ The duchess will not be here before four 
o’clock.” He fixed his eyes with evident vexation upon 
the huge bouquet that the young wife held in her hand. 
“ Heavens, what a waste of flowers I You must have fairlj 


108 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


plundered the green-house, my love ! Raoul is a fool, with 
his gloxinias, gesnerias, and whatever else those costly South 
American things are called !• Untold sums he spends, that they 
may wither in meddling stands. No one expects the mistress 
of a house to appear as if ‘decked for a ball.” 

Liana stood still and heard him to the end. She might 
have replied to him that his daughter had often plucked in 
pieces and flung away the costhest bouquets for her whim ; 
but she contented herself with saying, “Mainau wishes me 
f<o present the duchess with these flowers upon her arrival.” 

“ Oh, indeed ! then I beg a thousand pardons !” He looked 
at his watch. “ There is time enough. I will employ it in 
telling you of something extremely disagreeable and annoying 
to me; but, unfortunately, what is done cannot be helped. 
This morning you sent off a little box to Rudisdorf, to the 
Countess Ulrika. I like to have every packet that is to go by 
post put in my presence into the tin bo?: that goes to town 
every morning. I cannot tell to what clumsy hand the little 
box was consigned; enough, it was handed to me broken.” 
He drew from under his chair the small box, from which a 
piece of the cover hung down loosely. 

The crimson flood mounted to Liana’s face, and then, retreat- 
ing, left it deadly pale, even to the tightly-compressed lips. 
Involuntarily her glance fell upon the court chaplain, who 
moved slightly ; his eloquent, burning eyes were riveted upon 
her with a strange mixture of intensity and anxiety. Those 
eyes restored her self-possession. She laid the bouquet upon 
a table and approached the old man. 

“ I am obliged to mention something that embarrasses mo 
greatly,” the Hofinarschall continued, with afiected hesitation, 
as he cleared his throat and stroked his upper lip, as if in his 
eonftision stroking a moustache that did not exist, while his 
little eyes sparkled with a light like that in the eyes of the 
treacherous cat-tribe. '‘Nevertheless, we are entirely among 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


109 


ourseav^es, my excellent little lady, and it will never pass these 
four walls that yon have fallen into^a little error, as I suppose.’* 
He slowly put his hand into his breast-pocket and drew forth 
a small jewel-box. “This object |ell into my hands as I, 
in my irritation at the clumsiness of the servant to whom 
the bDX had been intrusted, took it up rather hastily.” His 
delicate forefinger, with its white crooked nail, pressed a spring, 
and the satin-lined cover sprang open. Within sparkled tho 
purple gleam of a fine amethyst set in small brilliants, forming 
an ornament to hang from a ribbon around the neck. 

“ Pardon me if I mistake,” he said, almost gently, holding 
the trinket towards her, “ but I could swear that I had often 
seen this pretty little bauble upon my daughter’s neck ; is it 
not one of Eaoul’s family jewels?” 

“ No,” Liana replied, with entire composure, as, taking the 
trinket from its velvet nest, she pushed aside a little gold plate 
at the back of the amethyst. “You must certainly be familiar 
with the arms of the Princes of Thurgau, Herr Hofmar- 
schall: have the kindness to satisfy yourself that they are 
engraved here upon this side of the jewel. It was left me by 
my paternal grandmother. You should also be aware that 
the error, or rather ‘mistake,’ which you ‘suppose,’ is out of 
the question on the part of the grandchild of this Princess of 
Thurgau.” 

“For Heaven’s sake, dear little lady,” he cried, struggling 
now with genuine confusion, “ did I express myself so clum- 
sily as to be thus entirely misunderstood ? Impossible ! One 
cannot utter what has never occurred to one’s mind. Besides, I 
surely had a right to mention an error that I believed existed. 
A. like ornament certainly belongs to us.” 

“I know it; the chest containing Hainan’s family jewels 
stands in my dressing-room; soon after my coming here I 
identified every article.” 

“ That is to say, you took immediate possession ; for which 
10 


no 


TEE SECOND WIFE. 


I should be the last to blame you, madame. And, in view cl 
such wealth, you are further quite right in returning the 
crumbs of former splendour to your family for the use of 
your sister Ulrika. You need them no longer, and they will 
doubtless be acceptable to her.” 

There was infinite malice in his tone, and an odious sneer 
in the smile that wreathed the old man’s lips. Liana strug 
gled with herself to keep back the tears, — those witnesses in 
her eyes would have lost her forever. She took the box from 
the floor, and placed it upon the rococo “ cabinet of curiosi- 
ties,” beside which the old man sat. 

“ You are mistaken, Herr Hofmarschall,” she replied, look- 
ing him full in the face. “ I shall respect your daughter’s 
memory, and never wear the jewels with which she adorned 
herself. I identified them because I consider myself answer- 
able for their safe-keeping. You are further mistaken if you 
suppose that I send this trinket to Rudisdorf that my sister 
may adorn herself with this ‘ crumb of former splendour.’ My 
poor Ulrika ! How she would smile at such an idea !” She 
inserted a paper-cutter, which lay upon the table, between the 
remainder of the lid and the box, and lifted the former. 
Then she hurriedly took out some sheets of blotting-papei 
containing dried plants, then a flat object wrapped in silver 
paper, apparently a picture, then turned the box upside down 
and tapped the bottom of it lightly with her finger-tips. 
“ With the exception of my grandmother’s legacy, it contains 
nothing of definite value,” she said, drily, looking proudly 
down upon the man of mean thoughts beside her. A slight 
flush of shame tinged his withered cheek. He had certainly 
richly deserved this reproof. 

“ Grood heavens ! why this proof?” he cried. “ Mutt I ask 
forgiveness when I never intended to offend ? How could I 
presume to doubt your exactitude ? I believe your slightest 
word, madame, even if you should assure me that you 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


Ill 


sending tlie trinket back to Kudisdorf to be bung around tbt 
neck of your mother’s lap-dog.” 

His tone was too insolent, — angry scorn flushed Liana’s 
face to her temples. She was upon the point of turning her 
back upon the HofinarschaJl and leaving the room, when she 
saw the court chaplain, who had hitherto sat by in silence, 
half extend his arm to the Hofmarschall, with a murderous 
gleam in his dark eyes. Was he coming to her assistance, to 
defend her? Was this one of the “moments of trial” in which 
he wished her to call upon him? Never, never would she 
extend so much as the tips of her fingers to this priest, 
who crushed in his iron grasp every human soul within his 
influence. 

“ No such absurdity would ever occur to me,” she said, 
controlling herself hastily, lest the priest should speak. “ I 
am a daughter of the Trachenbergs, and life, with them, has 
always been too serious a matter to leave room for childish 
frivolities. Why should I conceal the truth? Every one 
knows how poor we are. I was sending the locket to my 
mother, to procure her two or three weeks at some watering 
place.” 

“ Now you are hoaxing me,” the Hofmarschall said, with 
i laugh, “ or else I must accuse you of sordid niggardliness. 
iTour pin-money amounts to three thousand thalers ” 

“ I presume that the manner in which this money is dis^ 
posed of is my affair, and mine only,” she gravely interrupted 
him. 

“ Certainly ; I have no right to ask whether you put it 
into the public funds or spend it in muslin dresses. You 
must, however, have an extrordinary idea of the value of 
that trinket,” and he contemptuously tapped the jewel-case 
with his forefinger; “the thing is hardly worth eighty 
thalers. Ye gods ! eighty thalers for the Countess Trachen- 
berg at a watering-place 1” 


112 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


“ Its value has been appraised,” she said, with diflB,cult;y 
maintaining her composure. “ I know its price is insufficient 

for the proposed journey, and therefore I ” She suddenly 

paused, and blushed painfully. She had been led to say more 
than prudence would have dictated. 

“ Well ?” asked the Hofmarschall, leaning forward, and look- 
ing up in her face with a malicious smile. 

“ I added something else, that Ulrika will not sell for less 
than forty thalers,” she said, drawing a long breath, and in a 
more unsteady voice than heretofore. 

“ Oho ! What is this wonderful source of revenue, ma- 
dame? That?” And he pointed to the folded silver paper, 
upon which she had involuntarily laid her hand. “ It seems 

to me to be a picture ” 

» Yes.” 

“ The product of your own pencil ?” 

“I painted it.” She pressed her clasped hands upon her 
breast, as if her breath was failing her. In a flash she saw be- 
fore her mind’s eye the terrace at Rudisdorf, and the book that 
her mother’s hand had flung away lying upon the pavement. 

“ And you wish to sell it?” 

“I have just told you so.” She did not look into the eyes 
that she knew were sparkling with evil exultation ; she heard 
that in the slow utterance of his question, — ^the play of the 
cat with the mouse. 

‘‘ The amateur purchaser is all ready, I fancy, — some good, 
wealthy friend and Maecenas, who visits at Rudisdorf and 
holds himself always in readiness to pay for such — works of 
art ” 

The calm which results from a sudden Arm resolve pos- 
sessed her now, and she said, gravely and quietly, “ That kind 
of gain has always seemed to me not one whit removed from 
beggary, and of course I have never resorted to it, but hav^ 
preferre<l to send my work to a picture-dealer.” 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


113 


The Hofmarschall started as if he had been shot. “ In 
other words, before your marriage 5fou earned your bread by 
the work of your hands ?” 

“ Partly, yes ! I know what weapon this confession places 
in your hands, and that by it I make my position in this 
house more insufferable than ever; but I would rather en- 
dure it all than the burden of a dissimulation that degrades 
the soul. I will not continue to pursue here the course that 
[ adopted at Rudisdorf for fear of agitating my mother.” 

“ Heaven help me ! what a substitute Raoul has provided 
me in the place of my proud, delicate child, my Valerie !” the 
Hofmarschall cried, throwing himself back in his chair, with 
a bitter laugh. 

The court chaplain had started up, and now held out his 
hand to the young wife ; but with a forbidding gesture she 
retreated from his approach. 

“You belie yourself, madame,” he cried, in a tone of almost 
humble entreaty. “ Admit that you have, in your excitement, 
said several things which, calmly considered, would produce a 
very different impression.” 

“ No, that I cannot admit. It would not be the truth. 
Let me repeat it distinctly. These hands of mine have earned 
money, have worked for pay ! I breathe freely, now that I 
see all the impression that my words produce.” A bitter 
smile passed across her charming face. “ I know that nothing 
escapes the Hofmarschall’s keen eye. Sooner or later he would 
have learned the true state of the case, and then he would 
have made my silence matter for reproach all my life long, 
and it might have seemed, too, that I was ashamed of my past 
labours. God forbid ! Would you really rather have heard,” 
and she turned to the Hofmarschall, “ that before my marriage 
I lived upon alms ? You despise an aristocratic hand that 
adapts itself to toil when there are no inherited revenues at 
its disposal ? What respect can the masses have for an 
H 10* 


114 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


aristocracy of birtli which declares that its insignia can be 
stamped only upon a golden background? Does not this 
worship of the golden calf deprive it of all right to a position 
above other ranks ? God be praised, our century has produced 
many an aristocrat too noble to despise artistic labour !” 

“Artistic!” the Hofmarschall sneered; “artistic! — th' 
daubs produced under the tuition of a teacher of drawing ai 

a girl’s school, — all after the same model, and ” He had 

taken the picture from the table and freed it from its tissue- 
paper envelope, and his voice died away in a kind of hiss. 
Was it terror or shame that sent blush after blush across his 
withered cheek? Once or twice he leaned his head against 
the back of his chair, as if overcome with weakness, and when 
the court chaplain approached, he covered the picture with his 
hand, as if to screen it from his gaze. 

Liana had thrown upon paper, somewhat idealized, of course, 
one of the figures she had seen in the Indian cot. The “lotos- 
flower” was not, indeed, lying upon the bed of reeds — the 
rack where paralysis had chained her for thirteen years. 
No, her delicate limbs, to which the pencil had restored the 
elastic grace of youth, were extended upon a mossy bed of 
delicious greenery. It was the Bayadere of Benares, as the 
German noble had brought her across the seas. Strings of 
golden coins were twisted about the brow and head that was 
supported by her hand as she leaned upon her elbow, and they 
fell over her neck and bosom, beside the long, thick braids of 
coal-black hair, and upon the gold-broidered jacket of pui-pk 
silk that covered only the shoulders and a small part of th( 
upper arm. The huge, ragged leaves of a palm threw a half 
shadow upon the reclining figure, while in the distant back 
ground the sunlight glittered upon the marble steps of the 
Hindoo temple and the shimmering waters of the little lake. 
Painted in water-colour, parts of the picture were sketchily 
*endered. It was not entirely finished, but it was evidently 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


115 


the work of a master-hand. The head, with its melancholy 
gleaming eyes, the manner in which the little naked feet, with 
their golden ankbts, nestled among the green grasses that half 
closed over them, the graceful curves of the bust and hips 
beneath the soft folds of the silken gauze attire of the Baya- 
dere, all were portrayed with the greatest care, and yet with a 
freedom that stamped the picture, in spite of the Hofinar- 
Bchall’s incredulity, as a positive work of art. 

However, he regained his composure with tolerable rapidity. 
“ Oho ! even this young lady of the cold, passive exterior has 
her share of feminine curiosity, which finds its food in the 
dusty archives of her home, and here in our Indian garden,” 
he said, with a cutting sneer. “You have transcribed in a 
masterly manner a piece of the past. It must have cost you 
laborious study. But you must see that on this very ac- 
count this picture can never leave Schbnwerth. To have our 
former folly and this disgrace to our name published abroad, 
and that by a woman who, under the mask of filial affection 
and self-sacrifice, aspires to shine in the world of art ! My 
love, this picture remains in my hands. I will send the 
Countess of Trachenberg as much money as she wishes for 
her journey.” 

“No, no, Herr Hofmarschall ! I protest in my mother’s 
name !” exclaimed Liana, for the first time with a degree of 
anger. “ She is proud, and would rather remain at home.” 

The Hofmarschall burst into a laugh, then arose with diffi- 
culty, and, opening one of the drawers in his “cabinet of 
curiosities,” took out a rose-coloured billet-doux, which le 
unfolded and held towards her. “ Pray, madame, read these 
lines, and admit that a lady who can entreat a former adorer 
for a loan of four thousand thalers to discharge a private 
gambling-debt will hardly refuse to accept from the sam** 
friendly hand the means to defray the expenses of a pleasure 
trip ibr which she longs. She formerly expressed much grat 


116 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


tude for the loan of the four thousand thalers, the repayment 
of which, however, circumstances prevented.” 

Like an automaton, the young wife received the paper held 
towards her, and slowly walked to the window. She could not 
and would not read it. Her mother’s femininely-illegible hand 
writing, the first words, “ Mon cher ami,” were a stab to her 
She only wanted to withdraw herself for one short moment 
from the gaze of those two men, and she stepped within the 
recess, but recoiled with a start. The window was wide open, 
and without, upon the landing of the lofty steps, his back 
turned to the house, and his hands resting upon the marble 
balustrade, stood Mainau. Not one word of all that had just 
passed within the saloon could have escaped him. Had he 
really heard the whole, and left her to contend single-handed 
with her malicious foe ? She did not dream of requiring love 
it his hands, but he could not deny her the chivalric protection 
‘hat a brother would grant to a sister. 

“ Eh, — give the note back to me, little lady,” the Hofmar- 
schall called to her ; perhaps, as her hand dropped at her side, 
he was afraid she might put it in her pocket. “ Antagonistic 
as you are, some weapon must be kept on hand to hold you in 
check ; you are an opponent not to be despised. I learn to 
know you to-day ; you have nerve and race, and more wit than 
you care to manifest. I pray you give me back my charming 
little rose-coloured billet-doux.” 

She handed him the note; he clutched it eagerly to put it 
in the drawer again. 

At this moment Mainau entered the glass folding-doors — 
not this time with the indolent grace, the half-offensive mixture 
of weariness and obligatory courtesy with which he was wont 
to present himself in the family circle; he looked fiushed, as 
if from some arduous exercise. 

The Hofmarschall started and sank back in his chair as the 
tall figure appeared so unexpectedly, like som(. threatening 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


Ill 


thunder-cloud throwing a dark shadow over the apartment: 
no sound of ascending footsteps had been heard outside. 
“Good heavens, Raoul, how you terrified me I” 

“ Why ? Is it strange that I should come up here to re- 
ceive the duchess as you have done?” Mainau rejoined, indif- 
ferently, looking eagerly beyond the old man in the wheeled 
chair to where his young wife was standing. She was leaning 
with her left hand upon the writing-table. The falling ruffle of 
the lace sleeve could not conceal that the hand trembled vio- 
lently. The Hofmarschall’s malicious revelation concerning 
her mother had shocked her profoundly, — she must tremble in 
thinking of it all her life long j but nevertheless she preserved 
her upright, undaunted carriage. The gray eyes beneath the 
slightly-contracted brows encountered her husband’s look firmly 
and gravely ; she was arming herself for a fresh struggle. 

Meanwhile he stepped up to the large table in the middle 
of the room and poured some water from a caraffe into a goblet. 
“ You look feverish, Juliana. 1 pray you drink this,” he said, 
offering her the glass. 

Surprised, and not without irritation, she refused it. Was 
he offering her a glass of water to allay the agitation that a 
few energetic words on his part addressed to her implacable 
foe would have prevented? 

“ Don’t allow those hectic roses to mislead you, my good 
Raoul,” said the Hofmarschall, as Mainau put back the glass. 
“ It is the flush of the debutante; that is, of the dihutante in 
Castle Schbnwerth, — in the world of art, — so far at least as it 
is represented by a picture-dealer’s shop. The fair lady has 
already made a successful dihut as Countess Trachenberg. 
What do you say to that, sworn foe that you are to all female 
Raphaels, blue-stpckings, and the like ? Look here ; see what 
a genius has been secretly smuggled into Schbnwerth between 
the lines of the marriage contract. The only pity is that oir 
cumstances compel me to confiscate this paper.” 


118 


THE SECOND WIFH 


Mainau held the picture in his hand and was examining iL 
Liana’s heart beat fast as she marked the blood mount to his 
sunburned temples. She expected every moment to hear some 
arrow of scorn launched at “ such daubers;” but, without rais- 
ing his eyes from the picture, he coldly said to the old man, 
“ Pray do not forget that the right to confiscate in this case is 
nine ahne. How comes the picture here?” 

“ Yes, how comes it here?” the Hofinarschall repeated, with 
a ,^hrug. “ Through the awkwardness of some of our people, 
Raoul, the box in which it was to have been sent away was 
brought to me broken.” 

“ Aha ! that matter I must investigate. Such clumsiness 
must not go unpunished,” said Mainau. “ And what is this?” 
he asked, taking up the packet of dried plants, on the top of 
which lay a closely-written sheet of paper. “Was this also 
in the unfortunate box?” 

“Yes,” said Liana, in the Hofmarschall’s stead, firmly, 
almost harshly, as with the courage of despair. “ They are 
pressed wild plants, as you see; some specimens of orchids 
that are very rare about Rudisdorf. Magnus sells herbaria in 
Russia, and I have been accustomed to help him to collect 
them. If this innocent occupation is also against the rules of 
the house of Mainau, I can but regret this added transgression.” 
With a bitter smile she held out her beautiful hands towards 
Mainau, who was rapidly running his eye over the written 
sheet. “ You must admit that there are no ink-spots upon my 
fingers, and that I have never wearied you with a single word 
concerning my small amount of botanical knowledge. Thanks 
to your people’s clumsiness, T stand before you now unmasked, 
and must be silent.” With gentle grace she laid her slender, 
supple hands upon her temples, as if to soothe their throbbing 
pulses. “ I am sorry to have involuntarily caused this scene, 
and, in transgression of the programme marked out for me by 
you, to have offended against this — I must say it this on^'e, 


THE SECOND WIFE 


119 


and once only — this cruelly-devised scheme of mental destruc- 
tion. It was not my fault; it shall not happen again. I 
have only one thing more to say. I must emphatically repel 
the Herr Hofmarschall’s accusation, that I was inspired in 
my labours by a desire to shine in the world of art. When 
my first picture was exposed to public gaze, I was ill for weeksi 
— not from anxiety as to the result ; no, — from shame at my 
own presumption ; and the money that it brought me wrung 
from me bitter tears, for it seemed to me that I had bartered a 
part of my own soul, — and yet I was obliged to go on doing it.” 

During this painful scene, which was like nothing but a 
sitting of the Inquisition, the court chaplain had been walking 
to and fro at the other end of the apartment. His hands were 
calmly folded behind him, but his broad chest rose and fell as 
if he were suffocating. A single glance would have convinced 
the two gentlemen that the man in the long black coat with 
the ivory white tonsure upon his head was exerting great self- 
control not to burst out against them like a tiger. At Liana’s 
last words he approached the glass doors, and, with his hand 
above his eyes, looked abroad to where the thin white line of 
the road was visible for a short distance among the trees of the 
park. “ I thought I heard aright,” he said, looking back into 
the room with a sigh of relief ; “ the duchess will be here in a 
moment.” 

“Most fortunately; we were on the point of growing sen 
fcimental,” said the Hoflnarschall. “ Forward, then !” He 
arose, and, stretching his meagre limbs with an irrepressible 
groan, went to the mirror, arranged his cravat, drenched his 
handkerchief with millefieurs, and sprinkled his coat and waist- 
coat with the fragrant essence ; then, taking his hat in his hand, 
he hobbled to the door. The young wife, however, quietly 
laid the papers in the box and tried to fit the cover over it. 

“ Well, your reverence,” said Mainau to the piiest, who 
stood by the door, evidently waiting for the baron to leavn 


120 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


the saloon before him, “ do you forget that the duchess will 
take it extremely ill if she does not hear your unctional wel- 
come as she descends from her coach?” 

The glances of the two men met; disdainful surprise shone 
in Hainan’s eyes, and undisguised anger sparkled in those of 
the priest. 

“ Oh, no ; after your reverence, I entreat,” Hainan insisted, 
with a wave of his hand ; not as if in reverential acknowl- 
edgment of ecclesiastical superiority, but as the courteous lord 
of the castle, while he scarcely suppressed a sarcastic smile 
Have no fear on my account ; I shall present myself at the 
right moment.” 

The court chaplain passed him with a slight inclination of 
his head. Hainan looked for one moment after the black- 
frocked figure as it glided down the steps, then turned sud- 
denly, and, with a strange gleam in his eyes, approached his 
young wife and held out his hands to her. 

“ What does this mean ?” she asked, standing immovable as 
a statue before him. “ Is this intended to express magnani- 
mous forgiveness ? I do not require it, for I have done no 
wrong. I have done no prejudice either to my duties as 
Leo’s mother, or to my position as mistress of the mansion or 
dame d’honneur, by my small studies. I collected the plants 
during my walks with Leo, and taught him the A B C of 
botany at the same time. I have painted and written only 
in the early morning, when no one had need of me. If it is 
your will and desire that I should deny myself the refreshment 
of these pursuits, you shall be obeyed. But I ask you to 
consider that if the husband claims the right to turn his 
back upon all the annoyances and tedium of his domestic 
circle and spend his time in travel, the wife should certainly 
not be denied during his absence a few hours of relaxation, 
that she may have some chance to soar above the homely 
drudgery and pettiness of her existence. As I have already 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


121 


iissuixjd you, however, £ will submit here, too ; though not 
as your blindly obedient and submissive wife, but as Leo’s 
mother. I have taken upon myself maternal duties, and I 
will discharge them ; were it not for this, I would not even 
now go to meet the duchess, but whither my desire and what 
lias just occurred point the way, — back to my home.” 

She gathered up her train, took her bouquet, and was about 
to pass him with quiet dignity, when he stepped before her. 
Something like fear overcame her as she looked into his face; 
there is always something terrible to a woman in the sudden 
pallor of a man in the full pride and strength of manhood. 

“ One moment more,” he said, quietly, but bitterly, raising 
his hand. “ You are mistaken in supposing that I wished to 
accord you my forgiveness ; such an attitude tow&ids you was 
impossible on my part. I am not so skilled as you are in 
analyzing and controlling emotions. I allow myself to be 
carried away, thoughtlessly to express what I feel strongly. 
I was prompted by the desire to ask your forgiveness, not 
to humiliate you. Either you have no comprehension of the 
expression of another’s face, — which I can hardly imagine, in 
view of your extraordinary artistic talent, — or the haughty, 
offended Countess Trachenberg did not choose to understand. 
I believe the latter, and respect your desire to repel any nearer 
advances. Nevertheless we must appear before the world as a 
harmonious married pair,” he continued, falling into his usual 
tone of easy persiflage, “and so have the kindness, Juliana, 
tc rest your finger-tips within my arm as we descend the 
steps.” 


122 


THE SECOND WIFE 


CHAPTER XIL 

Two equipages had arrived. The first, drawn up at the foot 
of the steps, contained the royal family ; the second, which 
was standing at a respectful distance, had brought the princes’ 
tutor and a maid of honour. The duchess had not yet risen 
to alight, — she was graciously extending her hand to the Hof- 
marschall, and expressing her pleasure at his recovery from a 
late attack of gout, — ^when Mainau appeared upon the steps 
with his young wife. A fiery glance shot upwards from the 
black eyes ; for one moment the words halted upon the lips of 
the royal lady ; she hastily turned, as if in surprised inquiry, 
to the maid of honour, who had already alighted and ap- 
proached the duchess’s carriage, and who now also looked in 
amazement at the descending figure. Then the sentence was 
concluded, with a graceful gesture, and the duchess alighted, 
assisted by the court chaplain. 

Who indeed would have thought that the gray “ nun” cower- 
ing in the corner of the carriage could ever have thus majes 
tically acted her part as mistress of Schbnwerth, descending 
the steps upon her husband’s arm ? Who would have thought 
that this woman could so carelessly endure the curse of hair 
of the despised colour as actually to wear it in heavy braids 
hanging down her back, while the Schbnwerth sunlight trans 
formed to a golden halo its rich, waving masses above hei 
brow? 

The two women stood opposite each other. It was said 
that since her mourning had been laid aside the duchess had 
affected the lightest and freshest toilettes, as if to conjure 
back by tbeir aid her maiden bloom ; and her dress to-day con 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


123 


firmed this gossip. She was dressed in pink silk, her neck 
and arms were covered with costly lace, and her round straw 
hat was trimmed with apple-blossoms. 

For one moment a shadow rested upon her brow, those 
clear steel-gray eyes encountered her own so fearlessly, and 
the dewy freshness of that youthful face was not to be denied ; 
but a side-glance at Baron Mainau restored the sunny smile 
to her lips. They were certainly light who asserted that in 
his choice affection had had no share. He stood cold as a 
marble statue beside his young wife, who, as he presented her 
to the duchess, curtsied respectfully, but not too profoundly, 
and offered her bouquet. 

It was graciously accepted, and the duchess would perhaps 
have continued at some length to express those flattering senti- 
ments which are so dear to the heart of a true subject, had 
not her glance fallen upon the Hofmarschall ; he was standing 
helpless and bent, his teeth fairly clenched with pain, and pale 
as a ghost. “ I have overrated my strength,” he stammered, 
“ and am distressed to be obliged to ask permission to make 
use of my wheeled chair.” 

It was instantly brought, by the duchess’s desire, and the 
invalid sank back in it ; a bitter moment for the man who for- 
merly, admired and courted, had hovered about his royal mis- 
tress with light courtier tread. The heavy chair rolled creak- 
ing over the gravel-paths of the park, whither the guests desired 
to wend their way. The lovely rose-coloured duchess swept 
past upon Mainau’s arm, talking gaily. She had scarcely ever 
before seemed so carelessly content, and yet the man whose 
conversational talent had but a short time since been so highly 
prized sat silent, — ^he was forgotten. The princes rushed by 
with Leo. Formerly they had hung around the Ho&aarschall, 
— no play had been complete without him ^ now it was taken 
for granted that he was old and feeble, a fixture upon his own 

^ain. The crushing consciousness was his that he, still 


1224 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


living, was as it were dead to all these people ! And there 
swept the “red-head” in all her arrogance, as mistress of 
Schbnwerth. The old man could not but say to himself that 
this penniless countess dared to be taller, more majestic, and 
of nobler presence than the duchess herself ; he was ready to 
choke with spleen and rage. 

“ Let me pray you, madame,” he called to the young wife, 
as she stooped in passing to pluck a little gillyflower that had 
strayed in among the grass, “ not to collect any orchids or 
weeds of any kind for Russia to-day !” 

Mainau turned hastily ; a sharp rejoinder hovered upon his 
lips ; but, after a glance at Liana, who, haughtily silent, was 
quietly sticking the little flower in her girdle, he shrugged 
his shoulders impatiently, and, turning, resumed his conversa- 
tion with the duchess. 

That part of the Schbnwerth park devoted to fruit lay ad- 
joining the Indian garden, and was protected by the moun- 
tains, the situation of which made this piece of tropical 
vegetation possible beneath these cold northern skies. The 
concentrated sunlight here, which, unchilled by blasts from 
the north and west, fostered the growth of the banana palms, 
also ripened magniflcent peaches, rare varieties of grapes, and 
other southern fruits, upon trellises and espaliers grouped 
upon an extensive lawn. These orchards, more grateful to 
the palate than to the eye, extended into the woods that 
skirted the lawn ; of course they did not penetrate the grand 
old forest, which, in its interior, admitted of but one road 
through its ancient and mighty growth, but there were several 
carefully-kept paths leading to an opening beneath one of 
the flrst groups of maples. 

Upon this opening stood what was called the huntsman's 
cottage. It was a pretty little structure, built of tiles, with 
shining windows, and the customary antlers upon the roof, 
and was a half-way station between the castle and the Schbn 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


125 


ivorth forest-house, that lay hidden in the lonely recesses of 
the wood. An underkeeper, who had the charge of Hainan’s 
large collection of sporting weapons, lived here with various 
hunting-dogs, and on gala-days the man appeared in uniform 
as the count’s huntsman. 

If there was to be an idyllic entertainment, the opening 
^ieneath this group of maples was selected for its scene. It 
was one of the loveliest spots to be found at Schdnwerth. The 
Air was fresh and pure ; the richly-coloured Hindoo temple, 
.n the midst of vivid tropical vegetation, was in sight, as 
well as the mediaeval roofs and gables of the castle. 

The castle cook never officiated at such festivities. Frau 
Lbhn herself made the coffee in the neat little kitchen of the 
cottage. She had done so for years, and her broad-shouldered 
figure, in black silk dress and white apron, seemed as much 
at home in the place as were the magnificent hounds that lay 
idly stretched upon the ground before the cottage door. The 
grave face beneath the white cap with plaid ribbons never 
smiled, and her “court curtsy” was stiff enough, but the 
coffee was delicious, and everything from her hands was so 
well cooked and so delicately served that her silent, almost 
morose manner was easily forgiven. 

It had perhaps been warmer than usual to-day in the little 
fcitchen, or Frau Lbhn had over-exerted herself, for she looked 
exhausted. Indeed, if such a supposition had not been con- 
trary to all that was known of her stern, hard character, one 
would have thought she had been weeping, her eyes looked 
so I'ed and swollen in their deep sockets. 

“ Are you ill, my good Lbhn ?” the princess inquired, with 
condescension. 

“ Not at all, your highness, — thanking you humbly for ycur 
gracious inquiry, — as fresh and well as possible,” was the reply, 
with a half-scared glance at the Hofmarschall. She brought 
ou a number of fine white wicker-baskets, which were instantly 
11 * 


126 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


taken possession of by the young princes. The coffee-table 
was deserted for awhile. The children rushed to the orchard, 
where the head gardener stood at a respectful distance, while 
the little vandals tore at his carefully-trained vines and ruth- 
lessly plundered his rarest fruit-trees, to fill their baskets. 

The Hofmarschall was also wheeled thither. The impre» 
flion produced by his helplessness must be after some fashipn 
obliterated, at whatever cost of torture to himself He arose 
from his chair, and hobbled along a richly-laden espalier that 
ran close up to the wire fence of the Hindoo garden. He 
actually succeeded in walking back again to the coffee-table, 
where the duchess had just seated herself. He reached the 
spot in a tolerably upright posture, and, with a self-satisfied 
smile, offered his august mistress a basket, in which were 
several bunches of early grapes plucked by his own hand. 
Suddenly the smile on his face gave way to a look of terror. 

“ My ring !” he exclaimed, hastily, placing the basket upon 
the table, and holding out the thin little finger of his righ. 
hand, whereon had sparkled a costly emerald a few momenta 
before. 

All present, with the exception of the duchess, arose from 
table and began a search for the ring, which the old man 
declared “ had always fitted very tightly,” but which must have 
fallen off while he was plucking the grapes. The search, 
however, was fruitless. 

“The servants shall be ordered to look for it carefully,” 
said Mainau, returning to the table. No more time could be 
devoted to this interruption of the royal visit. 

“ Yes, yes but by that time it may have been appropriate 1 
beyond recall by some of the castle people, who make quite a 
thoroughfare of this place. Your highness will forgive my 
great annoyance at this circumstance,” he said, turning to 
the duchess, “but the ring is invaluable to me as having 
belonged to Gisbert. He gave it to me in the presence (/ 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


121 


witnesses, a few days before his death, and wrote at the time, 
Never forget that you received this seal-ring on the tenth cf 
September.’ He left it especially to me, and therefore I prize 
it most highly. Your highness knows that I never agreed 
well with this brother, that I always condemned his wild life 
and repeated disregard of all moral considerations. But, good 
heavens I the heart will assert itself. I loved him in spite oi 
it all, and this loss would greatly distress me.” 

“ Apart from the almost fabulous value of the stone,” Hainan 
remarked, drily. 

“Of course, that is a consideration that no one would 
ignore,” the Hofmarschall declared, with affected candour, 
at the same time moving his chair by a desperate effort, so 
that he could command the whole length of the espalier. 
“ The emerald is very valuable ; it is wonderfully engraved. 
There is a little mystery about it. Just beneath the crest 
a small spot is discernible. It looks as if a splinter of the 
surface had been broken off, but, examined under a magnify- 
ing-glass, it proves to be an exquisitely-cut head. A good 
impression of this seal is really more valuable than a genuine 
signature.” 

“ Let us drink our coffee now, and then I will help look for 
it,” said the duchess, amiably. “ This interesting ring must 
be found.” 

In the mean while Frau Lbhn was carrying round the large 
silver coffee-tray. Not a feature of her face moved ; in the 
pause that ensued, the rustle of her silk dress over the gravel 
was distinctly heard. Suddenly the porcelain upon the tray 
rattled, as if some shock had made the housekeeper’s hand 
unsteady. The Hofmarschall, before whom she was standing 
with her salver, looked up in surprise, and, following th 
direction of her eyes, saw Gabriel coming rapidly througi 
the vines. 

“ What does the fellow want?” he asked, harshly. 


128 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


“ I have not the slightest idea, Herr Baron,’' she replied, 
mth restored composure. 

Q-abriel came directly towards the Hofmarschall, and, witn 
downcast eyes, handed him the lost ring. The fingers that 
held it were delicate and tapering, and they belonged to a 
spotlessly neat boyish hand, but the Hofmarschall threw them 
iff with evident irritation as they touched his own. 

“ Are there not plates enough there ?” he said, sternly, 
pointing to the table. “ Have you learned so little all this 
while as not to know how to hand an article to a gentleman ? 
Where did you find the ring?” 

“ Close by the wire fence. I knew whose it was instantly. 
I always liked to see it on your hand,” the boy said, timidly, 
as if asking forgiveness for immediately recognizing to whom 
che ring belonged. 

“Ah, indeed! Quite fiatteringl” the Hofmarschall said, 
with a contemptuous toss of his head, as he put the emerald 
on his finger. “ Lohn, give him a piece of cake, and ask what 
he wants.” 

The housekeeper took out of her pocket a key. “ You 
wanted this, did you not ?’ ’ she asked the boy. He assented. 
‘ The woman is thirsty, and I locked up the sherbet ’ ’ 

“ Stuff and nonsense 1 There were servants enough to come 
about that, but my young master is spoiled, and thinks that 
he must put in an appearance at whatever is going on at the 
castle ; to-day, too, when his reverence, in your hearing, for- 
bade his taking part in any amusement 1 Did you forget that, 
Lbhn? He must get ready for the seminary,” he said, turn- 
ing to the duchess. “ We decided this morning that he must 
go in three weeks. It is high time.” 

Liana looked at the housekeeper. This was the reason, 
then, why the woman had been so confused and embarrassed 
when she came in the morning to receive her orders for the 
day ; this was the cause of her red and swollen eyelids. Stony 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


129 


and hard as she tried to appear to him in the presence of 
others, Liana had long suspected that the housekeeper abso- 
lutely worshipped the boy G-abriel. She stood now without 
a word, her face crimsoned, the picture, to all present except 
Liana, of a woman offended by an unjust reproof. The young 
wife was convinced that she was suffering keenly in anticina- 
tion of a threatened calamity. 

The duchess scanned the boy through her eyeglass. “ You 
have decided that he is to be a missionary ?” she said, in- 
quiringly, to the court chaplain. “ To me he does not seem 
at all fitted for such a vocation.” 

This remark had an electrifying effect upon Liana ; it was 
the first word she had heard spoken in opposition to the fiat of 
the priest and the Hofmarschall, and it came from lips whose 
utterances had power to control for good the lives of others. 
There sat the old baron, listening eagerly ; a nervous shudder 
thrilled through her at the thought of exciting his wrath 
against her afresh. All at the table were either prejudiced 
against the boy, or quite indifferent as to his fate. How coldly 
Mainau regarded the “ little coward” as he stood there like a 
culprit, scarcely daring to move from the spot! The young 
wife summoned up all her courage ; was it not to a woman 
that she was about to appeal ? 

“ Gabriel is eminently fitted for one career, your highness, 
that of an artist,” she said, regarding the beautiful princess, 
not without some timidity, but steadily enough. The eyes of 
all were instantly turned towards her. “ Without any encour- 
agement or instruction, he has already learned to handle hi§ 
pencil with a force that surprises me. I have seen some of 
his sketches among Leo’s playthings that would procure in 
stant admission to any school of design. The boy has a rare 
talent for composition, and a love of art that asserts itself aj 
only genius can. Your highness is quite right ; he is not fitted 
for a missionary’s vocation. To 
I / 


that there should be brought 




130 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


an entire concentration of mind, and the full energy of a sold 
that rejects all other aims; to force the boy to embrace it 
would be cruel to him, and an injustice to art.” 

The duchess looked at her with undisguised amazement. 

You misunderstand me entirely, Frau von Mainau,” she 
said, deliberately. “ My remark had reference to the slender 
frame, the evidently weak constitution of the boy, not at all 
(o his mental qualification, or his personal wish in the matter; 
with regard to that, I should say decidedly, ‘he must conform.’ 
I am sorry indeed that there are women who do not regard 
this holiest of vocations as one to which all else should be 
subordinate. When men set their small amount of knowl- 
edge, based most probably upon false conclusions, in the 
place of the Holiest, it is sad enough. We women should do 
all that we can by our united efibrts to resist their infiuence ; 
let us cling to our only salvation, and, resting our faith thiire, 
never be led astray to question or investigate.” 

“ Your highness would make a woman’s task a very eiisy 
one if we are to open the door to superstition, and to those 
beliefs in a supernatural world and in the power of Satan to 
which a woman’s nature is, alas, but too prone.” 

A noise of chairs suddenly pushed back from the table and 
of embarrassed little coughs was heard ; but Liana main- 
tained her composure. Opposite her sat her husband, bal- 
ancing his coffee-spoon upon the edge of his cup, his head 
slightly inclined towards the lovely face from which he did 
not turn his eyes, and which, blushing slightly, steadily re- 
garded the duchess. As the last words were uttered, Liana, 
as if accidentally, looked towards him ; he encountered a glance 
so cold, so chilling, that it might have come from an utter 
stranger. His cheeks flushed crimson, and he threw the spoou 
upon the table, at which the duchess smiled, and said, “Well, 
Baron Mainau, what do you think about all this ?” her voice 
sounding sweet and almost tender as she addressed him. 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


131 


His lip curled contemptuously. “ Your highness knows well 
what a charm those women who believe in witches and ghosts 
possess for us,” he replied, in his lightest tone. “Woman is 
most attractive in her helplessness and timidity, — it wooes us 
to her and compels our — love.” His gaze darkened as he 
glanced at his wife. “ From a Pallas Athene there comes a 
breath as icy as that from the glacier of the Jungfrau. We 
naturally turn away from her.” 

Was this the woman who on Liana’s marriage-day had 
rushed past her on horseback like an angel of death ? Her 
beautiful face now beamed with a triumph that transfigured it. 

“And you?” she said, turning to the court chaplain, who 
sat opposite, with folded arms. He started, as if from a rev- 
erie, — the duchess was, as it were, mustering her forces against 
this young creature who dared to think for herself. “ Have 
you no weapon that can prevail against antichrist in a delicate 
female form ?” she asked, almost jestingly. 

“Your highness will graciously remember that I disap- 
prove such discussions at the coffee-table,” the priest replied, 
sternly, suddenly assuming the authority of the omnipotent 
confessor and guide. “ Let us waive the question for the 
present, content in the conviction that Frau von Mainau does 
not intend by her remarks to deny the occasional interference 
of supernatural forces in the affairs of this world.” 

He was determined to aid her. She had but to bow her 
head in assent, and the strife would be at an end ; but it would 
be acting a lie and extending her finger-tips to this priest. For 
the second time to-day she refused his assistance. 

“ I emphatically disclaim all belief in interference of a super- 
natural kind in the affairs of this world,” she said, although 
her voice trembled slightly. The maid of honour sitting 
next her nDisily pushed her chair from the table. “ I do not 
believe in the miracles and heavenly visions taught by the 
Church. If the Almighty ever sent us messengers from a 


32 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


aupernatural world, they would surely wear its livery ; but 
good angels, as well as evil ones, always wear human forms, 
which are lovely in the case of the first, while they are dis- 
torted and repulsive, but still human, when they clothe the 
principles of evil. And the songs of the seraph, the horns 
and hoofs of Satan, are borrowed from our animal world. 
Heaven and hell are invested with earthly attributes, and in 
the exaggeration of these our fancy revels.” 

A profound pause, lasting for a few seconds, followed these 
words ; the beautiful duchess sat as if transformed to stone, — 
her eyes alone moved restlessly, roving from Mainau to his 
young wife. He had just declared his antipathy to an inde- 
pendent woman, questioning and investigating by the cold 
light of the intellect ; here, however, was no mailed Pallas 
Athene, but a lovely, girlish apparition, whose melodious voice 
uttered her daring sentences at the same time that blushes 
and pallor chased each other upon her changing cheek. The 
bS-ron’s expression of countenance was hidden from the 
duchess; he sat half turned away from her; but his negli- 
gent attitude so well expressed the depreciating indifference 
in which he was wont to envelop himself that it seemed almost 
to say in words, “ Let her talk. What affair is it of mine ?” 

“ Your stand-point is so far removed from that of the be- 
lieving Christian, madame, that I could scarcely here and 
now enter upon a controversy with you, certain as I am of the 
victorious might of my cause.” The deep, melodious voice of 
the priest broke the silence. He had to answer her. She 
forced him to do so. “ I will, however, concede something to 
you in leaving the field of biblical authority, and reminding 
you that one of the world’s greatest poets has said, ‘ There 
are more things ’twixt heaven and earth than are dreamed of 
in your philosophy.’ ” 

“ True, true ; and among them I rank the mysterious in- 
fluences of the forces of nature. Most of us consider these 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


138 


forces as commonplace and easily comprehended, because 
their effects can be seen, heard, and understood, forgetting 
that the miracle lies in this very sight, hearing, and under- 
standing. And it is asserted that the all-wise Creator capri - 
ciously interrupts and alters the eternal laws that He has 
made, often for insignificant human ends. The Church go(« 
farther still, and declares that these laws are sometimes in 
fringed and set at naught by inferior spirits, possibly to con- 
vinos some peasant-girl of the existence of Grod ; and this it 
aalls a miracle! How sordid and theatrical such ‘miracles’ 
appear beside the real effects of the divine Creator’s eternally 
active energy I A whole heaven full of cherubs sinks into 
insignificance contrasted with the wondrous power that causes 
a delicate flower to spring forth from the ground. True it is 
that ‘ Grod is not mocked,’ — not mocked in that nature which 
is one with Him, and which, as He has ordained, avenges 
herself upon us when we sin against her.” 

The priest gazed at her with the same imploring expression 
on his countenance with which he had said to her, earlier in 
the afternoon, “ You belie yourself, madame.” 

“ Do you forget that the founder of your own Church — 
Luther — accorded to the principle of Evil a throne, a power 
in the world never acceded to Satan before his time?” he 
asked, gravely. 

“ In the present century he would have hurled not only his 
inkstand but his powerful pen at this creation of human 
imagination, and ” 

‘‘ Enough 1 enough I” cried the Hofmarschall, angrily, 
an etching forth his hand as if to impose silence upon the 
young wife. “ Your highness will pray forgive your being 
exposed to hearing such irreligious rant at my table,” he said, 
with forced calmness, to the duchess. “ Frau von Mainau 
has taken advantage of the retirement of her former life at 
lludisdorf to pursue studies which in their insipid results 

12 


134 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


rdn.iad one of the meagre bread-and-water diet upon whici: 
they were sustained ” 

The duchess hastily arose ; as a princess and a woman, 
she could not allow a family quarrel to take place in her 
presence. “Let us go now and pluck some fruit,” she said, 
gaily, as if nothing had happened, carefully setting her ha< 
upon her curls, and taking up her sunshade. 

“ Where can the princes be ? I neither hear nor see them, 
Herr Werther,” she said to the tutor, who hurried away. 

Motioning the court chaplain to her side, she laid her hand 
upon Hainan’s offered arm, and, without even glancing towards 
his wife, he conducted his guest to the orchards. The maid 
of honour followed quickly, and Liana stood alone, like an 
outcast, beneath the maples. 

“ What are your sensations, madame ? You have broken 
your neck to-day,” said the Hofmarschall, maliciously, as he 
was wheeled past her. 


CHAPTER XIII. 

Liana turned silently away, and into a path that led past the 
huntsman’s cottage, through the forest. Through the kitchen- 
window she saw Frau Ldhn standing upon the hearth, and 
not far from her Grabriel’s pale face looked out, phantom- 
like, from a dark corner. He had taken refuge there when 
the Hofmarschall had sternly dismissed him. She had made 
a terrible mistake in interceding for the boy, most probably 
aggravated his sufferings, and undeniably “broken her own 
neck,” as the Hofmarschall had coarsely expressed it. The 
“ second wife,” hitherto but reluctantly endured, had now so 
destroyed her position that her return to her own home coutJ 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


135 


be only a question of time. At this thought she breathed 
frealy. A ray of hope illumined her soul. The demand 
for a separation would come from the other side. She need 
not stir a finger to break the chain which in her monstrous 
delusion she had allowed others to cast around her. She 
exulted in the courage with which she had denounced the 
mperstition of these orthodox believers, — every word she 
aad uttered had been a crushing protest against Mainau’s 
benumbing course towards her. Surely he could not now 
leave the care of his household, the education of his heir, in her 
hands when he departed upon his travels ; the Hofmarschall 
would never suffer it, and his own desire for such an arrange- 
ment must have vanished. No need now to avoid distasteful 
notoriety ; the scene at the coffee-table had made such avoid- 
ance impossible. Once more to be free ! The hated castle 
in which she had suffered so bitterly would appear in her 
memory in a softened light, — she could regard the time of 
trial spent here as a terrible dream of the past, and perhaps 
forget it. Away to Magnus and Ulrika ! — to live and study 
with them again in Kudisdorf in the dear old garden-room ! 
How willingly she would endure all her mother’s caprices, her 
worst outbreaks of temper ! The misery of the home from 
which her brother and sister wished to rescue her was as 
nothing compared with this loneliness among strangers. She 
did not go to her mother, but to Magnus ; he had emphatic- 
ally declared that Rudisdorf should always be a home and a 
refuge for his sisters. “ Oh, Magnus !” Tears filled her eyes 
ai the thought of seeing him again. 

At this moment she heard the dogs rushing out of the 
cottage which she had just passed. She turned her head. 
Mainau was approaching; probably to bring from the house 
the shawl that the duchess had laid aside there. How 
ha ightily he carried his head, as if he were the very personi- 
fication of manly force and activity ! And yet he was tl'o 


136 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


worst of all ; he could say what his conscience contradicted, 
and hold his peace when the rudest assaults were made upoc 
a wife who did not suit his views. She hurried on as if she 
had not seen him, bnt he suddenly stood beside her. 

•‘What! tears, Juliana? You c,an weep, then?” he said, 
stooping to look into her face, his eyes gleaming with vhai 
Beemed to her a cruel exultation. She hastily wiped her eyce 
with her handkerchief. “ But you need not be vexed ; no 
one knows better than I that they do not flow from tender- 
ness of heart. There are tears of indignation, of injured 
pride ” 

“And of profound remorse,” she interrupted him. 

“Ah! you repent your heroic words just now? What a 
pity ! I took all that you said as proceeding from entire con- 
viction, and thought you would, in case of necessity, have 
gone to the stake for every word you uttered. You repent, 
then ? Shall I send the court chaplain to you ? He certainly 
showed an inexplicable readiness to assist you. The duchess 
was amazed at it. Shall I send him, Juliana? He is the most 
charming of father- confessors. Valerie has often told me so.” 

“ I should, then, allow myself,” she said, irritated into imi- 
tating the smiling scorn of his manner, “ to be taught belief 

in witches and ghosts, that I ” She paused, with a burning 

blush and a gesture of aversion. 

“That you might be beloved, as I before remarked,” he 
completed her sentence. 

“Not here! not here!” she cried, passionately, extending 
her arms, with a gesture of repugnance, towards the castle. 
“I repent,” she added, more quietly, “having hastened 
Gabriel’s fate by my ill-judged intercession ; everything else 
that I said I am ready to repeat, word for word; yes, — if it 
should be r3quired of me, — I would willingly prove it all. 
even in the presence of falsehood in high places, and your 
biting scorn. I repent, besiies ” 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


137 


“ Let me say that, Juliana. I could hardly bear to h(jar a 
woman tell me that,” he interrupted her, with the same rapid 
change of colour that had startled her once before to-day. 
‘ You repent, besides, that you entered so blindly, ignorantly, 
nd innocently into this marriage, while you passionately 
arraign the experienced man of the world, who must have 
suown exactly what he was doing, what he desired ” 

“ Yes, yes !” 

And what if he also repented it?” 

‘‘Ah! would you, Mainau? Would you let me go? This 
very day?” she asked, with bated breath and beaming eyes, as 
she pressed both hands to her breast. 

“ That was not what I meant, Juliana,” he replied, evidently 
startled by her hardly-suppressed delight. “ You misunder- 
stood me,” he said, with a nervous quiver of the lip. “ Let 
us leave all this for the present; this is neither the time nor 
the place for an explanation.” 

“Explanation?” she repeated, sadly, as her arms fell by 
her side. “ It is quite impossible I Why drag along thus ? 
Good heavens I the good will, the honest intentions, with 
which I entered upon my new life here are gone. I am em 
bittered, and can hardly preserve a calm exterior; my head 
and heart are in Rudisdorf, not here 1 This might go on for 
awhile, but for a lifetime, — impossible 1 An explanation ?” 
She laughed bitterly. “ Four weeks ago I might have sought 
it myself, in the honest hope of fulfilling the duties I had as- 
sumed with such unpardonable frivolity; to-day, after all that 
lias passed, it cannot be ! I reject it.” 

“But I do not, Juliana!” he exclaimed, with a degree of 
violence that silenced her for a moment with a kind of fear of 
him; but would it not be better for both, she thought, that 
there should be an immediate rupture ? 

“ I think I understand why you desire my stay in your house 
for the present ; and, even in this bitter moment, it is a comfort 
19 * 


138 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


to me,” she said, gently. “ You see that I have taken your child 
to my heart, that I love him dearly. Let Leo go with me to 
Rudisdorf, Mainau. I promise you that I will live for him 
alone, that I will guard him like the apple of my eye. I 
know how gladly Magnus and Ulrika.will welcome him, and 
they are so clever, they can teach him everything. And then 
you 3an go away without any anxiety, and travel for yeatb. 
Give me Leo, Mainau!” She held out her hand to him in 
entreaty; he thrust it from him. 

“A Nemesis indeed! How they would all — all laugh!” 
He threw back his head with a laugh of scorn, and looked up 
into the blue air, as if those of whom he spoke were flying 
above him. “ Do you know what vanity beneath the lash 
looks like, Juliana ? I will tell you some day, but not now^ 

not for a long time, not until ” The young wife suddenly 

walked past him towards the maple-trees, whence the duchess 
was approaching them, accompanied by her maid of honour. 
Unfortunately for Liana, the eager eyes of the royal lady had 
seen how Mainau had thrust from him his wife’s hand. With 
a deep blush she advanced towards the ladies, and she became 
still more embarrassed as she marked the malicious smile 
hovering about the mouth of the maid of honour. 

Ah ! the duchess had surely interrupted a slightly disagree- 
able matrimonial scene. The husband had been taking his 
young wife to task for her previous want of tact, and had 
harshly repulsed her when she had prayed for forgiveness. 
How repugnant she must be to him ! The great lady could 
now^ quietly confess to herself that the timid “ red-head” ad- 
vancing towards her was a perfect picture of a true German 
Gretchen, — the prophetic field-daisy in her hand was all that 
was wanting. Why should she not admit that this second 
wife, despised and disliked though she were, was exquisitely 
lovely? Faust did not love her. He treated her cruelly, 
because — well, because, rash gallant that he was, he could no< 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


139 


shake off this girl with the red-gold braids so quickly as in 
fiis thirst for revenge he had possessed himself of her. 

“ My dear Frau von Mainau, why do you isolate yourself 
so ?” she called out to the young wife, kindly and cordially. 
She carried a basket of fruit in her hands, and if she had 
held it only a little higher one might have been tempted 
to believe that she wished to present a tableau-vivant of 
Titian’s daughter, so graceful was her attitude as she stood 
awaiting her host and hostess. “ Take this in exchange for 
your lovely flowers. I picked it with my own hands,” she 
said, holding out a peach to Liana. The maid of honour 
looked amazed. She was not accustomed to see her haughty 
mistress express her thanks after so amiable a fashion. Per- 
haps she did not know how gracious and condescending a 
passionate woman in the full consciousness of conquest can be 
towards her luckless rival. The duchess went even further. 
Had not the exquisite hand that received the fruit just been 
rejected with unconquerable dislike? “And I have one more 
cause for complaint, my dear Frau von Mainau,” she said, in 
honeyed tones. “Why have we never seen you before to- 
day ? I trust soon to have the pleasure of welcoming you to 
court.” 

Liana glanced at her husband as he stood beside her. His 
lip quivered, as if he were suppressing an ironical smile, but 
otherwise his whole flgure breathed the air of careless indif- 
ference that sat so gracefully upon him. “Your highness 
must excuse me from obeying this gracious summons,” Liana 
said, firmly. “ Baron Mainau takes his departure in a fevf 
days, and will allow me to retire to Rudisdorf.” It was said, 
and with entire composure. Her deliverance was declared, 
and the declaration had been peaceful and natural. 

“ What, Baron Mainau ! is this so ?” the duchess asked, 
almost breathlessly, forgetting herself so entirely that the raa'd 
of honour was seized with an embarrassed cough. 


140 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


“ Wliy not, your highness ?” he replied, with a careless 
shrug. ‘‘ Rudisdorf is most healthily situated, and offers an 
undisturbed retreat for minds given to contemplation. Al- 
though I am a restless bird of passage, I am able to under- 
stand how others may like to return to the nest. Take 
care, Juliana! he will tear your dress, I am afraid !” he said 
referring to Leo’s huge dog, that, having just escaped from 
the cottage, was in his delight madly leaping about Liana. 
“ The creature positively adores you. What will become of 
the poor fool? Leo will not like to part from him.” 

Liana bit her lip. This, then, was the answer to her pre- 
vious request, and how coldly and carelessly it was given! 
The look that accompanied it was seen only by the maid of 
honour, who afterwards described it to the duchess as the 
“ embodiment of dislike,” flashing out at his “ red-haired 
wife.” 


CHAPTER XIV. 

In the mean while the young princes and Leo were run- 
ning about in the park. They had soon tired of picking fruit 
and strewing the ground with what they had found too unr pe 
to eat. The cofiee-table possessed no attractions for them. 
They refused Frau Lbhn’s cakes and glasses of milk ; but the 
faint chatter of the monkeys, heard now and then in the In- 
iian garden, was alluring indeed. True, the princes had been 
strictly forbidden to go into the “Yale of Cashmere” without 
some grown-up attendant, principally on account of the pond 
there, which was very deep ; but the prohibition availed little. 
Every one beneath the maple-trees was occupied and interested. 
Mamma and Herr Werther would never notice them, and the 
maid of honour “had nothing to do with’ them,” as the 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


14] 

crowu-priQce assured his playfellow, Leo, in the strictest con- 
fidence. 

First the steer, basking lazily in the sun, was chased away. 
He was very old, and peaceful by nature, so he retired to the 
depths of the thicket. The swans on the pond fled into their 
house from showers of well-directed stones, and flocks of gold 
and silver pheasants slipped noiselessly into their coverts at 
the sound of hurrying childish footsteps. 

“ Hey, Leo, is the witch still inside there ?” asked the 
crown -prince, pointing to the bamboo cottage. 

Leo nodded. “If I only could ” he said, cracking his 

whip. 

“ Let us chase her away, or throw her into the water.” 

“ Nonsense I every one knows that witches never sink. 
They can float on top of the water, — oh, for a hundred years ! 
Fraulein Berger told me so, and she knew all about it.” 

The crown-prince listened, open-mouthed ; the information 
was new to him, but it only inflamed his destructive zeal 
“ If we had some gunpowder,” he said, “we could easily bldw 
her up into the air. Captain von Horst told me yesterday 
how to do it ; you just put a match ” 

“ There’s plenty of powder in the huntsman’s cottage,” 
cried Leo, all excitement. “ Let’s blow the witch into the air ! 
Hurrah , that would be fun !” 

The children ran through the orchards ; they met their 
tutor, who was looking for them, and ran by the trellis, where 
their mother was picking fruit ; but they were too cunning 
to breathe one word of their secret. It was to be a gran 1 
urprise, and they slipped quietly into the huntsman’s cottage. 

The key had been left in the weapon-closet, and behind 
the glass doors was temptingly displayed a richly-decorated 
powder-horn. The huntsman was not in the room. The 
crown-prince got upon a chair, took the horn from its nail, 
and examined its contents ; it was quite full. He looked 


142 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


around for a match there upon the table lay the remnant cf 
a thin wax taper, and a box of lucifers “ These will do./’ 
he said, and put them all in his pocket. 

Just then the huntsman entered, and at a glance compre- 
hended the whole situation. He was a young man of gloomy 
aspect, from whom Master Leo could hope for but small 
indulgence. “Go out this instant!” the boy ordered, in a 
rough, arrogant tone, in which, however, could plainly be 
discerned the fear lest the theft of the powder should be dis- 
covered. “ Oho, — out of my own room ?” the huntsman 
replied, his brown cheek flushing with anger. He went 
directly to the crown-prince, who, holding the horn in both 
hands behind him, had retreated to a corner, and seized the 
child by the shoulder ; but he was instantly attacked. His 
highness kicked him furiously, the other little prince seized 
him from behind, and Leo rushed at him with upraised whip. 

“I’ll serve you as grandpapa did!” he shouted. “Don’t 
you remember how he hit you in the face with his hunting- 
whip ?” 

The man grew pale to the very lips ; he raised his hand as 
if to strike the wayward boy. “ Spawn !” he hissed between 
his teeth, controlling himself with difficulty. “ What do I 
care ? Do as you choose ! It would be good if a match 
could be put to all of you !” 

He went out of the room, and slammed the door behind 
him. The children waited breathlessly until the sound of 
his footsteps had died away, and then slipped out of the 
house. 

A few minutes afterwards the housekeeper ran out zz the 
cottage, and, shading her eyes with her hand, looked aux- 
ijusly around her. It was just at the moment when Baron 
tiainau with the ladies was returning to the group of maples. 

“ What is the matter, Lohn ?” he asked, observing her 
Agitation. 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


143 


“ They are in the Indian garden, — the children, I mean, — 
Herr Baron,” she hurriedly replied. “ Heaven have mercy 
on us ! they have taken gunpowder and matches with them ! 
The huntsman has just told me !” 

The duchess screamed in terror, and clung to Hainan’s 
arm; he instantly turned towards the “Vale of Cashmere.” 
Liana and the maid of honour followed, and the tutor, who 
had been sauntering slowly among the vines, hastened after 
them, in obedience to the duchess's angry summons. 

They were just in time to be thrilled with the horror that 
overcomes us in the presence of an impending peril. In the 
centre of the veranda of the Indian cottage, upon the smooth 
matting, the children had emptied the powder in a little heap, 
and in the midst of it had stuck the end of the waxen taper, 
which was burning brightly. The least jostle, a breath, might 
overthrow it, or detach a spark from its wick. There was, of 
course, not enough powder to achieve the desired end of 
“ blowing up” the witch’s house ; the danger lay in the uttei 
ignorance and unconsciousness of the children, who, nevej 
dreaming of any danger to themselves., were huddled togethei 
around their “ mine,” bending over it, and breathlessly await- 
ing the interesting moment when the flame should reach the 
powder. 

Leo was crouching down between the two princes, and waf 
the flrst to see the approaching group. “ Hush, papa, — we 
are blowing up the witch!” he said, in a half-whisper, scarcely 
moving his eyes from the flame. 

In an instant Hainan stood at the veranda, and, without 
venturing to mount the slight and easily-shaken steps, he 
leaned over and plucked out the taper, crushing the flame in 
his hand. As he looked around, his face was pallid as a 
spectre’s, while the duchess, sobbing hysterically, sank into 
the arms of the maid of honour. Quickly recovering herself, 
however, she turned to the tutor. “ Send the boys supperlesp 


144 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


to bed to-night, Hei.r Werther, and deprive them of theii 
ride to-morrow, to punish them,” she said, sternly, as Mainau 
took Leo by both shoulders and shook him violently. 

Liana approached, and put her arms around the weeping 
child. “ You will not really punish him for the sins of his 
former governess, Mainau,” she said, with gentle gravity. 
“ He is just as little to blame as those nations who have been 
trained to such cruelties by the gloomy teachings of supersti- 
tion.” And she passed a trembling hand tenderly over the 
beautiful eyes that the father’s sudden action alone had saved 
from the fearful doom of blindness. 

The face of the duchess suddenly assumed the waxen hue 
that it had worn when first she had encountered Liana in the 
forest. The royal lady forgot that the tutor, the maid of 
honour, and he himself whose lips so often wore the dreaded 
smile of triumphant scorn, were all present. She only saw 
the lovely young creature clasping the boy in her arms, — his 
child,— to whom this self-possessed young wife asserted her 
maternal right so calmly. It was not to be borne ! The jeal- 
ousy that she had restrained broke forth afresh. She did not 
indeed give way to it so far as to snatch the boy from those 
hated arms, but she entirely abandoned her r 61 e of kind and 
condescending mistress. 

“Forgive me, my love, but your opinions are so strange 
that they produce an effect here in my dear old Schbnwerth 
like that which would result from planting the tricolor on its 
venerable turrets,” she said, sharply, pointing to the castle. 
“ I cannot help it, indeed you must not take it ill of me, but 
I seem in listening to you to hear the utterances of some gov- 
erness, some excellent Smith or Jones. Do you prize so little 
the privilege of bearing the noble name of Mainau ” 

“ Until a few weeks ago, your highness, I was the Countess 
Trachenberg,” the young wife interrupted her, emphasizing 
her ancient aristocratic name with proud composure. “We 


THE SECOND WIFE 


146 


are impoverished, aud upon the present representatives of the 
name rests a weight of debt ; nevertheless, pride in the heroic 
deeds and stainless record of a long line of ancestry is my in- 
alienable inheritance. I know that I cannot dishonour them 
by humane thoughts or opinions, and surely that should suffice 
for the Mainaus.” 

The duchess angrily pressed her pearly teeth deep into he 
andor lip, and the movement of the lower flounce of her skirt 
showed that her little foot was impatiently tapping the gravel - 
walk. The maid of honour and the tutor marked each with a 
tremor these unmistakable signs of the royal displeasure. 

While Liana was speaking, Mainau had turned away as if 
to go; now he looked back over his shoulder. “Your high- 
ness, I am guiltless,” he said, with a sneer, laying his hand 
upon his heart. “ I really cannot help your hearing such words 
in your ‘ dear old Schbnwerth.’ I myself believed implicitly 
in the dove-like disposition of this lady with the gentle La 
Valliere lace, but she has inherited not only the glorious name, 
out also the sword of her heroic forefathers, — you hear it in 
her tongue. I have felt its keen edge.” He shrugged his 
shoulders with a scornful laugh. 

This sharp little dialogue, in which every word had resem- 
bled the flame that had just been burning in the heap of 
gunpowder, had been accompanied by suppressed weeping from 
the little princes. The heroic crown-prince was lamenting 
the loss of his supper, and his brother bewailed his be 
l.wed pony whom he should not see on the morrow. Herr 
Werther’s whispered admonitions produced no eflfect, and when 
he attempted to lead the boys away they burst out into loud 
crying. 

At this moment the wheels of the Hofmarschall’s chair 
were heard approaching. The old man’s face was pale with 
terror; but when he saw all the group uninjured, he ordered 
the huntsman, who was pushing him along, to stop . he evi- 
K 13 


146 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


dently wished to avoid the close vicinity of the Indian cottagtt 
He was followed by Frau Lohn and the court chaplain, — theii 
anxiety had evidently been aggravated by the children’s cries. 

•‘For God’s sake, Raoul, tell me what has been going on 
here!” exclaimed the old man. “Is it true, as Lohn says, 
that the children have been playing with gunpowder?” 

“ Their play bade fair to be earnest, uncle ; the lotos-flower 
was to have died the death of a witch; the children had 
determined to blow her up,” Mainau answered, with a slight 
smile. 

“If it could only have been done sixteen years ago!” mut- 
tered the Hofmarschall, glancing timidly towards the bamboo 
roof “ But let me ask how the children came by the gun- 
powder. Who gave it to your highness?” he asked the 
crown-prince, who was still roaring. 

“That man there!” he replied, pointing to the huntsman, 
who was standing behind the wheeled chair. The little coward 
had not the courage to take upon himself the responsibility of 
what he had done, and tried to shift it to another’s shoulders. 

“But that is not true!” exclaimed Leo, his indomitable 
integrity and love of truth greatly irritated by this falsehood. 
“Dammer did not give us the powder; he did not want us to 
have it; he was very cross, and was going to knock me down ; 
he called us ‘ spawn,’ and said it would be better for us all to 
be blown up.” 

“ Dog !” The Hofmarschall turned in his rage to the hunts- 
man, and would have risen, but fell back in his chair with ? 
groan. “Now you see, Raoul, whither these philanthropi 
views of yours lead ! You take care of these scoundrels and 
treat them with constant kindness, but if you don’t stand ov(ir 
them with the lash, they grow insolent, steal all that they can, 
and actually make our lives insecure.” 

“What single thing have I ever stolen, Herr Baron?” cried 
the huntsman, angrily. The man was terrible to look at, as 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


147 


Lla eyes flashed and his cheeks glowed with rage. “Am 1 
a scoundrel? I labour honestly.” 

“Be quiet, Dammer; go!” Mainau ordered, pointing to the 
man’s cottage. 

“No, Herr Baron, I prize my honour as much as you do 
yours, perhaps more highly, for it is all I possess. You struck 
xe once with your hunting-whip,” he said to the Hofinarschall, 
die words actually seeming to leap from his lips, “ and I bore 
it silently, for my old father depended upon me for support ; 
but I have not forgotten it. You talk of your constant kind- 
ness. Whenever you can, you cut down our wages ; you are 
not ashamed to chaffer for a groschen ; the whole world knows 
how hard and miserly you are. There 1 I have said it. I am 
going away from Schonwerth ; but take heed, — take heed to 
yourself!” He took hold of the back of the wheeled chair, 
shook it violently, and then gave it such a push that it rolled 
a little distance into the thicket. 

The maid of honour and the children screamed, and the 
duchess retreated to the Indian cottage ; but Mainau, greatly 
irritated, pulled from the ground a stake upon which vines 
were to have been trained, and ran forward. A low cry of 
pain rang through the air. “ Don’t strike, Mainau !” Liana 
exclaimed at the same instant, and her right hand fell at her 
side. She had noiselessly hurried up to prevent the blow ; 
the huntsman had nimbly avoided it, with a contemptuous 
laugh, and it had fallen upon her hand. 

For one moment Mainau stood petrified by what had hap- 
pened j then, with an oath, he flung away the stake, and 
would have taken the hand in both his own, but he recoiled 
involuntarily before the court chaplain. The priest could not 
have interposed with a more fanatical enthusiasm between the 
altar of his faith and barbarian hordes about to attack it, than 
he did now between Mainau and his young wife. He was 
evidently completely under the influence of a sudden burst of 


148 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


passion ; he made as if he would have drawn Liana to his 
side, while he extended his right hand menacingly towar^is 
her husband. 

How now, your reverence ? would you murder m</ ?” 
asked Mainau, with slow emphasis, as he coldly measured fi oin 
head to foot the man in priestly garb, — the look of ho)ioi 
liis face had worn at his own act giving place to a scornful 
smile. His calmness restored the priest’s self-control. He 
retreated, and his arms fell by his sides. 

“ It was a terrible blow,” he muttered, as if in self-excuse. 

Mainau turned from him, and, standing close before Liana, 
tried to look into her eyes ; they were downcast. He gently 
offered to take the injured hand; she buried it more deeply in 
the folds of her skirt. 

“ It is of no consequence ; I can easily move each sepamU 
finger,” she said, gently, with a shadowy smile, as she looked 
up. Her eyes scarcely met for an instant the eloquent gaze 
fixed upon her, but turned with an indescribable expression 
of longing towards the distant landscape. 

“ You hear that it is a trifle, your reverence,” said Mainau, 
turning round. “ For me it is indeed something harder to 
bear. That beautiful hand will be able to-morrow to use the 
pencil -with all its wonted skill ; but I must carry to my grave 
the stain upon my honour as a gentleman of having struck a 
woman.” There was a keen bitterness in his tone. “ But let 
me ask your reverence one question. What would the implac- 
able order to which you belong say to this unusual sympathy 
of yours? It is expended — forgive me, Juliana — ^upon the 
hand of a heretic.” 

The court chaplain had entirely regained his self-contiol. 
“You belie your better knowledge, Herr Baron, when jov. 
accuse us of such severity,” he replied. “ On the contrary, 
we never forget that these misguided ones belong to us by 
:-^eir baptism ” 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


149 


“ You would find it difficult to gain an adherent to that 
doctrine among Luther’s disciples, I fear,” Mainau inter- 
rupted him, with a short laugh, as he turned away, not seeming 
to notice Liana’s emphatic gesture of dissent, and approached 
the duchess. “ What sensational events your highness has 
witnessed in Schdnwerth to-day !” he said, passing easily into 
he flippant jargon of the court. 

His royal mistress gazed at him half incredulously ; his 
look was icy cold. With all the hostility that she cherished 
in her heart towards the young wife, she could not but feel 
some compassion for the pain that was evident in her pale 
face, and he was all unmoved ; he had not even uttered a 
word of entreaty for forgiveness. An eternity never could 
assimilate these two. 

“ Oh, mamma, how your hand looks!” exclaimed Leo, who, 
nestling close to his mother, had pulled aside the folds of her 
skirt, exposing to view the crimson hand that hung down 
among them. “Papa, I never hurt Gabriel so much as 
that 1” 

Undeserved as was the reproof, it sounded very cutting 
from the boy’s lips. Liana herself hastened to weaken the force 
of it. She turned away from Mainau, who again approached 
her, and, when the duchess proposed to drive home and send 
out her physician, declared that all that was needed to allay the 
burning of the skin was cold water, and requested permission 
to withdraw for a quarter of an hour to the fountain behind 
thj Indian cottage. 

“ This is the result of your farce, madame,” the Hofmar^ 
gchall said, insolently, as the tutor slowly turned around his 
wheeled chair. “You have probably seen upon the stage a 
l&dy interpose between two duellists, — it makes quite a pretty 
scene , but to ward off with aristocratic hands a well-deserved 
blow from an impudent servant,—^ done! Nothing could be 
more derogatory. T1 e noble Princess of Thurgau, your dis- 
13 * 


150 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


tinguished grandmother, of whom you are so proud, would 
turn in her grave ” He paused, and looked around in sur- 

prise. Without a word Mainau had taken the tutor’s place, 
and was pushing on the chair at a rapid rate. The others 
fo lowed ; the court chaplain had already left the garden. 


CHAPTER XV. 

The “ Yale of Cashmere,” so lately the scene of such ex 
citing occurrences, again lay basking in the warm, dreamy 
silence of the summer afternoon. There was a soft plash of 
water from the fountain with its marble swan, and among the 
bushes might be seen the metallic gleam upon the plumage of 
a golden pheasant, cautiously determining to venture across 
the gravel-path in front of the '•'^ttage. After the sound of 
the wheels of the rolling-chair had died away in the distance, 
it seemed as if all that had happened resolved itself in memory 
into a series of grotesque, startling phantasmagoria, thrown 
upon the air from the slides of some gigantic magic-lantern, 
such a calm had now descended upon the spot; but there 
on the ground across the walk lay the stake that had been 
hurled away, and the peacock approached in majestic silence 
and regarded inquisitively the mysterious little heap of powder 
upon the floor of the veranda. Upon the surface of the 
water in the basin of the fountain floated a wealth of white 
rose-leaves, fallen like downy feathers from the bushes, in which 
the spouting swan was half hidden. As Liana dipped her 
aching hand into the water, she was half startled to see how 
iwollen and crimson it looked among the pale leaves. 

“Madame must allow me to bandage it,” said Frau Ldhn 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


161 


coming out of the Indian cottage with strips of white linen 
hanging over her arm. She neither exclaimed nor lamented 
at sight of the injury, — it was not her way, — ^but there was 
something that struck Liana as unusual about this woman, who 
always made a kind of parade of her coolness and indifference. 
n?r large hands trembled with agitation as she dipped a strip 
of linen in the water. “Yes, yes, this is the Schonwerth 
fashion,” she said, glancing at the swollen hand. “ A blow 
upon the hand, that might break every bone in it, or a furious 
clutch at a poor little throat.” 

The young wife looked up in her face with surprise ; but 
Frau Lbhn was wringing out her bandage upon the gravel- 
path. 

“ She who is lying there could tell a tale,” she added 
pointing a dripping finger towards the glass door of the In- 
dian cottage. “ I always say that the castle is an evil home 
for women. And when you came, madame, so tender, so 
delicate, I pitied you from my very soul.” 

Her searching glance scanned for a moment the neighbour- 
ing thicket, and the path through it; but no unbidden witness 
was to be seen, only a little monkey swung himself from the 
bough of a tree that overshadowed the bamboo cot down upon 
its roof, along the ridge of which he scrambled. Frau Lohn 
gently took the swollen hand from the water, and as she 
wound the bandage about it, said, as if half to herself, “Yes. 
yes; the whole castle was roused thirteen years ago, when we 
heard in the kitchen that the ‘girl from the Indian cottage’ 
had been found lying dead from apoplexy, before the dooi 
of the red room, where the master lay dying. Hm ! apo- 
plexy hardly strikes such delicate young lily-fair creatures, 
madame. And then she was brought here, hanging over the 
arm of the man who carried her like a poor white slaughtered 
lamb, and he laid Lei upon the couch where she still lies after 
thirteen long years. I walked by his side. I am. hard 


152 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


hearty ’tis true, — no. madame, — I will speak the truth for once 
I am not hard; my heart is soft and silly, and I thought it 
would break when the poor lady came to herself, opened her 
eyes, and was terrified at the sight of old Lohn, for fear she 
would — strangle her again.” 

Liana uttered a low cry of horror. Frau Lbhn hastily walked 
away for a few steps, and looked into the garden, then passed 
around the house, and returned apparently reassured. 

“ If one says A, B must come after it,” she said, in a low 
tone ; “ and since I have begun I might as well unburden my- 
self. The doctor, a scoundrel of a man, and that’s the fact, 
said the blue spots on her white throat were where the blood 
had settled, — blood settled, indeed ! They were the marks of 
the clutch of ten fingers, — ten fingers, I tell you, madame !” 

“Who did it?” Liana asked, breathlessly. She might per- 
haps in any other case have prudently checked the narrator 
in the revelation of so dark a secret; but this grave, stern 
woman, who had for thirteen years nerved herself to wear 
such an iron mask of concealment, impressed her profoundly, 
especially by the manner in which she unclosed, for one instant 
as it were, under the infiuence of strong mental emotion, the 
hidden doors of her soul. 

“ Who did it?” Frau Lbhn repeated, and her eyes flashed 
“ Why, the hands that are always so ready with the whip, the 
fingers with nails curved inwards, as if to scrape together and 
keep all that they can. Madame, he is a devil !” 

“ He must have hated her bitterly.” 

“ Hated ?” the housekeeper laughed almost shrilly. “Is it 
hitred that makes a man crouch and kneel and whine for pity 
upon him? Yes, yes, — who could believe that that sallow 
old skeleton had ever been so infatuated about a woman! 
I stood there upon the veranda, and through the window I 
saw him upon his knees at her feet. She thrust him from 
her, and fled past me out into the night. Ho was swift 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


153 


enough of foot then, and pursued her through the garden, 
but she was fleet and light as a feather — a snowflake. Long 
before he could overtake her, she was back in her room again 
and had bolted the door and was sitting by little Gabriel’s 
cradle. In my dim corner I almost laughed to see how he 
stood there beating at the wooden lattice in his fury ; but it 
was of no avail. He had to go away.” 

The woman’s words were so vivid that to Liana’s eyes the 
whole scenery around her was metamorphosed. She saw the 
young creatur3 circling the pond with flying feet, terror and 
aversion in the lovely face that looked behind as she ran, 
while in pursuit of her came — he — the man of formulas — the 
cold courtier with his insolent tongue. How could it be? 
Involuntarily she left the fountain, as if to look through the 
windows of the Indian cottage, but stiff, gay mats hung behind 
both windows and glass doors. 

“ You are sorry for her, are you not, madame?” the house- 
keeper asked, noticing her action. “ For two days she has 
been so quiet. She sleeps a great deal, — sleeping her life 
away. She can hardly last four weeks longer.” 

“ Was there no one to protect her?” asked the young wife, 
as the tears stood in her eyes. 

“ Who could ? He who had brought her from beyond the 
sea — my old master — ^had been confined for months to the red 
chamber. The curtains there were all closely drawn ; not a 
window could be opened, and when the terror was on him 
the shutters had to be tightly closed, and the keyholes stuffed 
with paper, so that the devil might not slip in. He was a 
learned, clever man, but his illness changed him sadly. He 
grew timorous and gloomy, and there were two people who 
knew well how to contrive that he never should recover, — the 
man with the shaven crown, and that other who was wheeled 
away just now. They told him that only insanity could have 
caus ■ 'D cO build the Hindoo temple oi to give his hean w 


154 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


■ a dancing-girl/ and he believed them. Good heavens ! wha; 
will a man not believe and do when his brain is enfeebled by 
illness ! And if he asked for the wife who was dearer to him 
than all the world beside, they told him that she was false to 
him and had gone astray with another. Oh, what lies they 
poured into his ears ! And all the castle people were in the 
plot, — even my own husband. God forgive him ! He was 
the master’s valet ; and they would have turned him out of 
his place if he had refused to aid them.” 

It must have cost her a hard struggle to utter those last 
words ; for the first time she passed her hand across her eyes 
to wipe away a tear. “ And I put on a sullen face, and pre- 
tended to all the world that I detested the woman in the 
Indian cottage, and her child no less. Therefore they chose 
me to hold little Gabriel in my arms at his christening, and 
gave me the care of the invalid. Ah, madame, I can feign 
well, as you have seen. It all looks natural and genuine when 
I scold and frown at Gabriel in the castle. But, oh ! he is 
the light of my eyes — ^my sunshine ! I would shed my heart’s 
blood drop by drop for his sake. Have I not cherished him 
from the first hour of his life, and shed many a tear over the 
poor little head with its patient, loving eyes !” Her voice 
failed her ; she hid her face in her apron and wept bitterly. 

“And he is one of the family,” she added, after a short 
pause, attaining, by a strong effort, her self-command, and 
with a kind of defiance in her tone. “ He is a Mainau, as 
true as the sun shines above us ! And, although they never 
allowed my old master to see him, he is none the less his 
lawful child — is Gabriel.” 

“You ought to have told all this to your young master 
when he entered upon the inheritance,” said Liana, gravely. 

The housekeeper recoiled, raising both hands in protestation. 
“Madame, — tell him?” she asked, as if she had not heard 
aright. “ Oh, you are not in earnest ! Why, if the young 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


155 


baron only glances at Gabriel, I tremble. His look chills me 
to the bone. It is true that the baron is very good in other 
ways ; he does a great deal for the poor, and will not suffer 
injustice when he knows anything about it ; but he chooses 
not to know much. He does not like to be annoyed, and leti? 
a great deal pass that ought to be inquired into. He knows, 
toe, why the sick woman screams so whenever the duchess 
rides by ” She paused. 

“Well, why is it?” Liana asked, eagerly. 

The housekeeper looked at her in some confusion. “ Whj 
because the young baron looks so like his uncle that one 
could almost swear sometimes that he is Baron Gisbert him- 
self. And one day he passed by the Indian cottage with the 
duchess leaning on his arm, and,” she looked timidly around 

her, “ she was gazing at him with eyes that burned so 

I was not there, — I did not see it, — ^but the sick woman 
thought the man walking there was him whom she had loved 
best in the world, and shrieked with wild jealousy. Since 
then she is always worse when her highness rides by. It 
shows how she loved our dead master ; but the Herr Baron 
always says, ‘ The woman is insane,’ and there is an end of 
the matter. No, he will not lift a finger, and, unless the good 
God interferes, my poor boy will be sent to the seminary in 
three weeks, and after that away among the heathen. There 
he will be well out of the way.” 

“ But this was the late baron’s express desire.” 

The housekeeper looked full in Liana’s face, and her eyes 
were brimming with meaning. “ Yes, so they say in the castle ; 
but who believes it? Have you ever seen the paper they 
speak of?” 

Liana shook her head. 

“ I knew it ; who has seen it, I should like to know ? Oh. 
madame, on the evening when you came so unexpectedly into 
the Indian cottage, and talked so kindly to Gabriel, I waiJ 


156 


THE SECOND WIFE 


rejoiced ; I thought, God has at last sent one of His angels t<j 
help us. And you are an angel ; did I not hear you just now 
pleading for my poor boy so bravely before all those terrible 
people? But you will never be of any avail in that house. 
No one could be, except such a one as our last mistress, 
who used to stamp her feet, and throw at our heads whatever 
came first to hand, even though it were a knife or a pair ot 
scissors. And so I had better be silent, and not burden your 
kind, gentle heart with anything more. You will have to 
struggle, struggle hard, to maintain a shadow of authority 
there for yourself. That wicked old man is burrowing in the 
ground beneath your feet like a mole ; he will do all he can 
to thrust you forth from here ; and the other, he who brought 
you to Schbnwerth, — do not be angry with me, madame, I 
must say it, — he will not protect you, will not keep you. We 
all see it, and know it. When the old baron is too much for 
him he leaves Schonwerth, shakes the dust from his feet, and 
goes out into the world. What does he care what he leaves 
behind him, even although it be his poor young wife ?” 

A burning blush overspread Liana’s face. What a part 
she was playing in this household ! The woman’s plain un- 
varnished phrases portrayed with terrible distinctness the am- 
biguous, unworthy position that she held. She was an object 
of compassionate observation. All the pride of the Trachen- 
bergs, as well as her injured feminine dignity, stirred within 
her. “ That was all arranged beforehand between the baron 
and myself, my good Lbhn ; others cannot understand it,” she 
said, quietly, holding out her hand that the woman, who was 
silent in surprise at her composure, might bind around it a 
last dry bandage. At the extreme end of the path the maid 
of honour now made her appearance, with Leo. sent by the 
duchess to “ inquire after the poor patient,” as she explained. 

The housekeeper vanished for a moment within the cottage, 
vhilsL Liana, accompanied by the maid of honour, and lead 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


157 


io^ Leo with her left hand, returned to the group of maples. 
She fairly shuddered as she saw there the “ sallow skeleton of 
a man,” who sat in full-dress suit at the table, nervously 
drumming upon it with his lean white fingers. Would not 
those fingers have been ready with their murderous grasp upon 
the throat of the woman who, quickly following her mistress, 
entered the huntsman’s cottage, had the old man dreamed how 
she had just betrayed his evil secret ? Without his knowledge, 
he was dogged by a sullen shadow, with eyes forever looking 
eagerly for a day of retribution, and the shape that it took 
was that of the stern, indifferent figure that re-issued from the 
cottage to offer refreshments to all present, and to Liana her- 
self, with a face utterly unmoved by the consciousness of the 
terrible words she had so lately spoken. 


CHAPTER XVI. 

The noise of the departing carriages had long died away. 
At the duchess’s request, Mainau had ordered his horse, that 
he might accompany his guest part of the way towards the 
capital, while the court chaplain had been invited to take his 
place by the side of his august mistress, the princes being 
banished to the back seat of the carriage. Her highness was 
evidently in a gracious mood. She could not know that at the 
sight of her companion sitting in the seat of honour many a 
fist would he secretly clenched. Who could tell her this? 
ALnd, if she were told, of what consequence was the opinion 
of the people, when respect was to be shown to the Church ? 
The reigning line of the ducal family was not Roman Catholic; 
the crown prince and his brother had been educated tn the 
14 


158 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


Protestant faith, but the collateral branch, to which the duchess 
belonged, had always been cherished in the lap of Mother 
Church. The Protestant majority of the population, therefore, 
had not been greatly edified by their sovereign’s choice of the 
most bigoted of his Romish cousins for a wife. It was not 
long before her chaplain was elevated to the post of court 
chaplain, and, if the hand of death had not interfered, there 
might have been, so ran the whisper, a change in the duke’s 
form of faith, for he adored his wife, and blindly submitted 
himself to her influence in all things. There they sat as they 
drove away from Schonwerth, personifications of happiness 
and evil, — the rose-coloured, laughing princess, and the black- 
robed priest, with his pale face, that to-day wore only a gh'omy 
smile in return for her lavish favour. 

As she curtsied her farewell to the duchess. Liana also 
took leave of Mainau, asking his permission to withdraw to 
her own apartments for the rest of the day. It was accorded 
her, with an ironical smile, as he mounted his horse. Now 
she was alone, — ^the Hofmarschall had claimed Leo to beguile 
his loneliness at the tea-table in case Mainau should remain 
in town, — alone, left to herself in her blue boudoir. She put 
on a white dressing-gown, and, as she had a racking head- 
ache, her maid loosened and unbraided her heavy hair, — that 
always brought her relief. 

In spite of her headache and the pain in her bandaged 
hand she had a small table placed before her lounge, to write 
to Ulrika; but in the midst of her letter she was forced to lay 
aside the pen and throw herself back upon her couch, the pain 
was so intense. 

There she lay, immovable, for more than an hour, among 
the blue cushions, her left hand beneath her head, watching 
the shining folds of satin on the opposite wall mirror all the 
hues of the setting sun, from glowing crimson to pale, glim- 
mering gold. Across her bosom fell a brv^ad mass of waving 


THE SECOND WIFE 


159 


hair down upon the blue flowers of the carpet. The last 
ray of evening light still touched those full, heavy rings, 
and they gleamed like the red metal so jealously guarded by 
the gnomes. Silent and calm though she looked, all kinds 
of dreams and fancies were running riot in her brain. She 
thought of the airy, lace-woven soul who had thrown abou 
knives and scissors: this jessamine-scented Valerie had been 
a pet at court ; that evil old man spoke of her with admira- 
tion ; and Mainau, — well, he had never loved her ; he could 
not speak of her without contempt ; it had been a mariage de 
convenance, and a most unfortunate one. And yet, ruthless 
as he was in breaking all fetters that oppressed him, he had 
been silent here. He had wandered out into the world 
when “ matters went too far” at home ; and death alone, no 
spoken decree of separation, had dissolved this marriage, — 
because all scandal must be avoided ! What a contradiction 
was this man, paying no heed to the opinion of the world 
with regard to his love-adventures, duels, or mad wagers, but 
timid as a child at the thought of a step that might con- 
vict him of some past mistake, some error of the intellect, 
and perhaps expose him to a little malicious ridicule from 
his associates ! In view of this weakness, she had herselt 
hinted to the duchess to-day, in the most delicate manner, at 
the approaching separation, and he had calmly, as it seemed 
to her, seconded her efibrts. The torture could not last much 
longer; she should soon be at home again, — without Leo, to 
be sure. At this thought she buried her head deeper among 
the cushions. She loved the child so dearly, the idea ol 
parting from him was such pain to her; but she could not, 
even for his sake, stay here any longer after the revelation 
that had been made to her of the Hofmarschall’s past, — here 
where she must daily, hourly, behold the evil consequences of 
his sins, without the power to raise a Anger to prevent them. 
A shiver like that from fever ran through her lithe form as 


160 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


she lay there ; she shuddered at the idea of inhaling the same 
air breathed by the man of murderous intent. 

In the midst of her reverie she heard a slight noise; it 
might be the “ sallow skeleton” at her door, with his careful 
toilette and impertinent smile, drawing aside the portiere with 
his lean, crooked fingers. She started up, with a faint cry of 
terror. 

“ It is I, Juliana,” said Mainau, entering between the blue 

curtains. “ It is I ” as if that were not a still more terri 

lying announcement. He had never crossed the threshold of 
her apartments since he had come to conduct her to the mar- 
riage ceremony. She sprang up, and felt for the bell-rope. 

“ What for ?” he asked, seizing her hand. 

With a crimson blush she shook back her hair behind her, 
and tried to conceal it by standing with her back to the wall. 
“ I want Hanna for one moment,” she said, briefly and 
frigidly. 

He smiled. “ You forget that some of our modish ladies 
appear in public with their hair dressed thus ; and why should 
you be so ceremonious? Have I not a right to enter here 
whenever I choose, without being announced, to inquire after 
my sick wife ?” He slowly stroked the silken mass of hair 
which, in spite of Liana’s efforts, would stream forward over 
her neck and bosom, and cover the white dress like a t^nic 
of woven gold. “ Magnificent !” he said. 

“A rather pale shade of the Trachenberg coloui,” she 
replied, with a bitter smile, while with he** left hand she 
withdrew the hair from his touch. 

He stood motionless for a moment, And a slight colour 
suffused his cheeks. Her tone and manner told him that she 
was but repeating one of his own thoughtless remarks ; he 
was evidently wondering where she could have heaJtd it. “ I 
have brought the physician with me, Juliana,” he said, 
putting aside the disagreeable sensation. “May he come in?’’ 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


161 


‘‘ 1 will not trouble him. At Rudisdorf we were not 
accustomed to consult a physician for every trifle ; he lived 

too far away, and ” She broke off. Why should she 

again confess the poverty that had made them their own 
physicians, for the sake of economy ? “ The fresh spring- 

water has already done its duty,” she added, quickly. 

“ He shall not annoy you by an examination of your hand. 
1 am relieved to And that you have been able to write,” he 
answered, with a glance towards the letter that she had begun 
to Ulrika. But I should like to prevent any ill results from 
mental agitation. I saw you shiver as with nervous fever.” 

Then he had been standing for some time behind the por- 
tiere, watching her. Why this sudden anxiety, when he had 
shown such ofiensive coldness and indifierence at the time of 
the accident, and even afterwards ? “ Should I see him for 

that?” she asked, with a half-smile, as she turned to him 
over her shoulder. “You seem to forget that I have been 
bred in a difierent school from that of most of my equals 
in rank. I could not else have been Ulrika’ s sister or my 
brother’s ‘ famulus.’ We really never had time to cosset and 
pet our nerves ; we learned to harden ourselves as those must 
who would preserve their mental independence and keep them- 
selves in working order. I beg you to dismiss the doctor ; he 
IS, I suppose, waiting outside?” She said the last words 
quickly, and with an emphasis that could leave him in no 
doubt that she wished in this way to put an end to his visit. 

“ He is not waiting outside ; and if he were, he would not 
care. The good man is sitting in the drawing-room, with a 
bottle of excellent Burgundy before him,” he replied, as he 
walked still farther into the room and looked about him. 
“ Why, look ! The blue boudoir — my special aversion, 1 
frankly confess — has grown to have a remarkably habitable 
and cosy air. Those ivory groups against the folds of satin 
are quite charming ; they enliven the room wonderfully, as do 


162 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


the white azalias in the recess of the window. And the 
writing-table, too! Yes, yes, what always disgusted me so, 
you see, was Valerie’s indolent Sybaritic lounging for hours 
among these shining cushions.” 

Through the open door he cast a glance into the adjoining 
room. “ But where do you paint, then, Juliana? I see no 
arrangements here. Not in the nursery, I hope?” 

“ No ; I appropriated to that the small room next to my 
dressing-room.” 

“ That miserable little corner, which, if I remember rightly, 
has not even a good light to recommend it ? What induced 
you to use it for such a purpose?”* 

She looked him full in the face. “ I believe that those who 
appreciate the sacredness of art have certain additional fibres 
of sensation that give them pain in a hostile, unsympathetic 
atmosphere ’ ’ 

“ And that recoil from it. That contradicts my view of 
feminine dilettanteism. Still, I am right, although to-day has 
converted me to a belief that there are exceptions. But what 
will you do in winter? That room is not heated.” 

“In winter?” the young wife repeated, in sudden terror; 
but she quickly collected herself. “Oh, then, you did not 
notice probably that there is a splendid fireplace in the garden- 
room at Budisdorf In spite of its glass front, it can be 
warmed very well ; and when it is too cold, I share with 
Ulrika a pleasant, warm room up-stairs that you do not 
know.” 

There was great irritation in the look with which Mainau 
scanned the quiet figure of his young wife. The rise and fall 
of her bosom alone betrayed the agitation within. 

“ Has that whim really taken such hold there?” he asked, 
slowly, lightly touching her white brow with his forefinger. 

“ I do not know what you mean by that word,” she replied, 
recoiling with cold gravity, as involuntarily she drew her hand 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


163 


across the place he had touched, as if to brush away a stain. 
“ My head is too young for whims. I try to guard myself 
against the flattery of any narrow, egotistical, amateur com- 
placency. You used the word whim in connection with my 
return to Rudisdorf. Is it not the wish and desire of both 
of us?” 

I thought I had convinced you of the contrary to-day,” 
he said. The self-possession with which he shrugged his 
shoulders as he spoke was merely assumed. She knew that 
at the next word of hers he might burst out ; but she was 
not intimidated. * 

“Yes, at first,” she assented; “but afterwards, when the 
duchess was present, you showed yourself entirely agreed ” 

He laughed aloud, so bitterly that she was silenced. “ 1 
believe, indeed, that it would have been a delicious morsel for 
your wounded pride if, at the moment of the explanation you 
were at such pains to make, I had declared, ‘ This lady wishes 
to leave me at all hazards. I entreat her on my knees not to 
do so ; but she spurns everything that I can ofier, and gladly 
returns to the life of poverty and sacrifice that she left, and 
this for the sake of revenge.’ Such a revenge, 0 lady fair, 
in the presence of the eyes that were so eagerly watching your 
every look to-day, no man could allow to his wife, even 
although he — loved her.” 

Liana’s hot cheeks paled with agitation. She was deeply 
offended; she did’not hear his last words, only that he accused 
her of desiring revenge. 

“Mainau, let me seriously entreat you not to speak so 
offensively, so unjustly,” she cried. ' “Revenge! I hardly 
know what the word means, or how such an emotion can affect 
the mind ; but surely passion must exist before a desire for 
revenge can be aroused, and I cannot see how my residence in 
Schonwerth could call to life passion of any kind within me. 
The Hofmaischall has often insulted me, but I told you my- 


164 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


self that I always had regard for his invalid condition and 
quietly repulsed his attacks. And you, — ^how could I desire 
revenge for insults that were not intended as such, and there- 
fore not regarded as such by me? Neither of us can really 
wound the other.” 

‘‘Juliana, take care! At this moment every one of your 
words is an intentional stab. You know perfectly well how 
embittered you are.*’ 

“ I deny it emphatically,” she said, with perfect calmness. 
“ I am hurt and discouraged, but not embittered. Discouraged, 
because all that I can do in your house is like drawing water 
in a sieve; even in the matter of Leo’s education the oppo- 
sition is too strong. I had just begun to write to Ulrika 
about it ” 

“ Ah, then this is a good opportunity to inform myself,” 
he said, stepping hastily to the table. 

“You would not do that, Mainau?” she said, gravely, laying 
a detaining hand upon his arm, as he was about to take the 
letter from the table. 

“Most certainly I would, and shall,” he replied, shaking 
off her hand. “ I have a right to read my wife’s letters ; 
especially if they seem objectionable to me. Look in that 
mirror, Juliana! Those pale lips testify to a guilty con- 
science. I will read the letter aloud to you.” 

He went to the window, and read aloud, with sarcastic 
emphasis: “In two weeks, at the farthest, I shall come to 
Rudisdorf, forever, Ulrika! That cry of deliverance looks so 
cold and tame upon paper that it can give you no idea of the 
sunshine that fills my heart at the thought of once again 
living with you and Magnus.” “Poor Schdnwertb!” he in- 
terpolated, with a sneer. “ Do not believe that my freedom is 
the consequence of any overt act. It is the simple result of 
the attempt to mate two souls whom an eternity could not 
assimilate; one of whom fears to excite the contempt of the 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


165 


world, while the other is tremblingly sensitive to every harsh 
word uttered in the privacy of domestic life. The break will 
be noiseless ; the scandal-loving world will find small satisfac- 
tion in it. Some day Baroness Mainau will quietly disappear 
from Castle Schonwerth, from its rooms, where she maintained 
for a short time a phantom-like authority. She will fade from 
the memory of its inmates, who from the first appreciated 
her untenable position and foresaw with compassion the end 
it would come to. And your Liana? She has never been 
really uprooted from the soil of home. She will flourish again, 
after her short absence, in the sunshine of your eyes. Do you 
not think so, Ulrika? You know how cruel I always thought 
it to put a freshly-cut plant in ice-cold water ; and I now feel a 
genuine sympathy for the poor thing. I know how it hurts. 
I leave in Schonwerth, withered and dead, a few resolves 
formerly vigorous, a too-confident reliance upon my own moral 
force, and the gage I would have thrown down to a society in 
which I find nothing to interest me. This lesson will do me 
no harm. Bemember, that when I heard Mm say to mamma 
on the terrace, ‘ I can give her no love, but I am conscientious 
enough not to wish to awaken love in return,’ I should have 
quietly gone down and returned him his ring; not because of 
his denial of any love for me, — I brought him none, and had no 
right to require any of him, — ^but because his last words betrayed 
such boundless vanity.” The blood rushed to Mainau’d face ; 
biting his under lip, he paused in his reading, and cast over 
the paper at his wife a glance of irritation and doubt. 

When he spoke of a guilty conscience. Liana had qaietly 
folded her arms ; and she still stood in the same attitude, — one 
delicate foot, firmly planted upon the blue lilies of the carpet, 
just peeped from beneath the hem of her dress. Her slender 
form seemed to dilate proudly, as he looked at her, in ccntrast 
with the graceful, undulating outline that characterized it, but 
the dark eyelashes almost rested upon her cheek ; involuntarily 


166 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


lilie had just told an ugly truth to the man standing there; it 
must shame him, and she blushed for him. 

He stepped close to her side. “ Your judgment is perfectly 
correct,” he said, with apparent self-control. “ I am not blind 
to this great weakness of mine, and when I think that you, 
with your power of delicate analysis and keen criticism, over- 
heard that coarse remark, the blood mounts to my cheek. 
But now, stern judge that you are, it is my turn to accuse. 
.[ was vain, but you were false, when you closed your lips, 
and came with me, despising me in your heart.” 

“Read on a little farther,” she interrupted him, imploringly, 
without looking up. 

He went back to the window ; it was growing quite dark. 
“ I knew that after such a declaration on his part I should 
never be tempted to experience a particle of sympathy for 
him,” he read on in a low voice, “and my still persisting in 
going with him, and pronouncing the solemn yes before the 
altar, made me an accomplice in a monstrous crime, and 
there was no excuse for me, for I was no silly, undecided 
school-girl.” 

Here she ran towards him, and tried to take the letter from 
him ; but, warding off her attempt with his left hand, he read 
on : “Ulrika, Mainau is very handsome, and lavishly endowed 
with that species of wit that dazzles and charms in conversa- 
tion, and that in its inimitable nonchalance is so generally 
attractive to women; but into what insignificance does this 
drawing-room hero sink, compared with our quiet scholar in 
the study at Rudisdorf, compared with Magnus, who, beneath 
such an unpretending exterior, possesses such strength and force 
of intellect, and who has never in his life dreamed of doing or 
saying anything merely for effect ! For therein, in that the- 
atrical striving for effect, lies the key to all Hainan’s follies, his 
duels, intrigues, and even his love of travel, appearing in strange 
lands, as he docs here and there, like a prince in a fairy-tale 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


167 


sipping only of what is startling and dazzling. No one can be 
more fully aware of his faults than he is himself ; but not for 
the world would he resign one of them, for are they not all 
aristocratic failings, admired by the superficial fashionable 
world as original eccentricities? Had he been more in earnest 
with regard to himself, and less flattered by worthless women, 

he might have been otherwise, but ” Here the pen had 

been thrown aside. 

“It is perfectly true that you are not embittered, Juliana/' 
he said, with an odd, hoarse laugh, as he laid the letter upon 
the table. “You could not else have so coolly and dispas- 
sionately subjected me to the same kind of analysis that one 
accords to an unfortunate butterfly on a pin beneath a magni • 
fying-glass. And you are perfectly right, taking this view of 
my character, in desiring a separation from me at any cost. 
You can easily effect it after what has occurred to-day; even 
Rome itself would acknowledge it a sufficient ground. Have 
£ not beaten you ?” 

“ Mainau !” she exclaimed, — ^the tone in which he spoke 
went to her heart. 

Without looking at her, he passed by her and walked several 
times to and fro in the adjoining apartment; then, going to the 
glass door, he looked out into the deepening twilight. How 
his friend Rudiger would have laughed to himself, if he could 
have looked into these rooms at this moment! Liana stood by 
(he white azaleas in the blue boudoir, her Lorelei hair stream- 
ing loose among the white blossoms, her “pale-blue e^es, d la 
La Valli^re,” as they had been contemptuously described, gazing 
before her with a look of stern determination. And Mainau ? 
A short time before, he had prophetically alluded to the letters 
he should receive from her, as “ stiff school-girl compositions, 
full of household detail he had just read one of them, 
and the agitation evident in his knotted brow and in the 
nervous drumming of his fingers upon the glass pane scarcely 


168 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


testified to that repose of mind which was to ensue upon 
their perusal, and which was never to interfere with hie 
nightly rest. 


CHAPTER XVIL 

A PROFOUND quiet reigned in the apartment after Liana’s 
exclamation. From the aviary attached to the neighbouring 
large reception-room the faint fluttering of some sleepy little 
bird was heard now and then, or the softly echoing footstep 
of some servant passed in the long pillared corridor outside ; 
bur there was no sound from the blue boudoir, the shining 
walks of which threw a pale reflection through the portiere 
into >5he room where Mainau stood. Had the young wife left 
the loom? The thought made him start as if from some 
sudden insult. Had he expected that she would follow him, 
touched to sympathy by his voice, that had startled even 
himself, and that had been so all-powerful with women? 
Did he suppose that, all unconsciously to itself, that strong, 
incorrupiible soul yet owned feminine chords that would 
thrill and respond to alluring tones from a man’s lips, 
and that would finally bring it to its victor’s feet ? Moving 
silently but quickly across the room, he stepped between the 
curtains. 

The young wife had not left her place by the window ; with 
her hand resting on the sill, and her lovely profile turned to- 
wards him, she stood there lost in thought, the tender curve 
of her lips betokening no struggle within. At the rustle of 
his approach she slowly turned her head, and her earnest eyes 
looked at him gravely and calmly. 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


169 


“ Leo will make my life wretched if he has to go back tc 
his old ways,” he said, returning her look. 

Liana sighed deeply, and her eyes filled with tears. “ You 
will not have to endure it long,” she said, softly, looking down ; 
‘ you are going away.” 

“Yes, I am going j and I shall throw myself into the de- 
Jghts of the world more recklessly than ever, and who can 
blame me? I leave behind me the icy realm of conscious 
virtue, of analytical intellect, while before me laughs a life 
cf pleasure; there I can be the ‘prince in the fairy-tale,’ 
here nothing is vouchsafed me but a measured glance of con- 
temptuous depreciation.” 

He walked towards the door of exit. “ Have you anything 
else to say, Juliana?” he asked, over his shoulder. 

She shook her head, and yet she pressed her hand to her 
heart, as if to suppress some longing. 

“ We are alone together for the last time,” he said, noticing 
her gesture. 

Quick to resolve, she approached him. “ Unintentionally, 
I have said many hard things to you to-day. I am sorry, and 
yet I have not quite finished. Will you listen to me?” 

He assented, but stood motionless, his hand upon the latch 
of the door. 

“ I have heard you say repeatedly that there is nothing for 
you to do at home for the next six months. Mainau, is it 
possible for a father, be his rank in life what it may, to reject 
all idea of duty so entirely as to feel that he has nothing to 
do with his child’s education ? Besides, think in what hands 
you leave your boy. You speak with contempt of the narrow, 
untenable dogmas of your Church, so sternly advocated in 
their darkest superstition by the court chaplain and your uncle, 
and yet you carelessly commit to their guidance the youthful 
mind of your child ; nay, more, you are sihmt when your 

silence gainsays your convictions, and ” 

H 15 


no 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


“ Oh ! this is my punishment for not coming to your aid in 
that uncomfortable controversy to-day about the existence of 
the devil. Pshaw! one should not condescend to waste one’s 
breath in opposing such nonsense ; it refutes itself. Leo is 
my son in mind also ; he will shake off that stuff as soon as 
he begins to think for himself.” 

“ Ah, so many think thus, when they ought to act ; and 
their inaction is the cause why there is one instant’s heed paid 
in this nineteenth century to such daring inventions of the 
human intellect as are spread abroad by that old man in Rome. 
Are you sure that Leo will withstand it all as easily as you 
have done ? I know what wounds the first religious doubts 
and struggles leave in the soul ; why invoke them rashly, and 
perhaps injure forever the entire religious consciousness? 
Study and watch a child’s mind as carefully as we can, it is, 
and always must be, a mystery. Even with a fiower-bud 
we can never surely predict that some distorted leaf will not 
suddenly unfold. This I have learned since I have been so 
constantly with Leo. I earnestly entreat you not to leave him 
in the hands of the court chaplain.” 

His hand dropped from the latch of the door. “ Well,” he 
said, after a moment’s consideration, “ I will respect your en- 
treaty as a kind of last will before your departure ; will that 
content you?” 

“ I thank you I” she said, cordially, and, offered him her 
hand. 

“ No, I do not care to take your hand ; we have ceased to be 
good comrades,” he said, turning away. “ Besides,” and there 
hovered about his lips both satire and a frivolous sneer, “ you 
are not very grateful. Your devoted friend, his reverence, 
breaks a lance for you whenever he can, with wonderful self- 
denial, and you are plotting against him.” 

“ He knows well that I do not desire his knightly aid,” she 
replied, composedly. “ The first evening that I came here h^ 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


171 


approached me, but I have no intention of being converted 
alter that cunning, indirect fashion.” 

‘‘ Converted ?” Mainau laughed aloud. “ Look at me, Juli- 
ana !” he seized her left hand and pressed it hard. “ Do you 
f3ally mean that? Converted — converted to Eoman Cathol- 
/cism ? I must know the truth. Has he been at work with 
that famous sonorous voice of his, — the holy man of Grod ? 
Juliana, be frank; if he has ever dared to breathe upon 
you ” 

“ What do you mean ?” she said, haughtily, snatching her 
hand from his. “ I do not understand you. It never occurs 
to me to conceal anything from you that has been said to me, 
whenever you ask about it ; therefore I reply, he told me that 
Schbnwerth was unsafe ground for women’s feet, whether they 
came from India or from a German castle, and he endeavoured 
to prepare me for moments of trial.” 

“Well devised ! One must confess the man has mind. At 
the first glance he saw what eyes less keen recognize only 
when it is lost to them. Yes, Juliana, Valerie, you see, was 
an admirable penitent, and he is quite right to desire that the 
new mistress of Schbnwerth should fall into the old traces, 
for the sake of the religious peace of the household, — this is 
what he means, eh ?” 

“ I suppose so, — or rather, I have not the slightest doubt 
of it,” she replied, looking up frankly and ingenuously into 
his face. “ And therefore, as I have already- told you, I 
always protest against his interference.” 

“ Your will may be of steel ; his is no less so. Juliana, 1 
wish I did not know the world so well, that I might rely 
upon that page,” and he inclined his head towards her face, 

“ as upon Holy Writ, but ” and he laughed bitterly. “ Yes, 

yes, that head, with its splendid weight of gold, would look 
well in the angelic choir of the Eomish Church; the pious 
proselyter sees that, and it is sweet to be glorified as an angel ■ 


172 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


you do not know, as yet, how sweet, Juliana ! I shall, myself, 
take strong measures to prevent this conversion ” 

“ But why?” the young wife interrupted him. “ You are 
going away, and I ” 

“ I really think you have said that often enough,” he ex- 
claimed, angrily, with a slight stamp of his foot. “ You must 
have the condescension to admit that it is for me, and me only, 
to decide whether and when I shall depart.” 

She was silent. Into what inconsistencies did this man’s 
rash temperament betray him ! As if he had not uniformly^ 
until to-day, alluded with the greatest delight to his projected 
journey ! 

“ Confess, too, Juliana, that in preparing you for these 
‘moments of trial’ the pious and amiable although indiscreet 
man did not spare my private history,” he said, negligently, 
as he took down one of the ivory groups from its bracket to 
examine it closely. 

“ That would presuppose my listening,” she replied, offended. 
“ You must credit me with sufficient sense of duty to prevent 
me from listening to any disparaging criticism with regard to 
you, even although it should coincide with my own opinion. 
A man must thoroughly despise a woman to whom he ven- 
tures to speak of anything to her husband’s discredit.” 

“ If departed spirits preserve any sense of shame, how Va- 
lerie must look at this moment !” he exclaimed, as he replaced 
the ivory Ariadne upon its bracket. “ Then your unfavour 
able opinion of me is the result solely of your own ohserva 
tion?” 

She turned from him without speaking. 

“What? Have others spoken of me in your presence? — 
my uncle?” His r61e of indifference was but clumsily main- 
tained. 

“ Yes, Mainau. A short time ago he complained to the 
court chaplain that your continual absences from home filled 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


173 


him w th anxiety upon Leo’s account. You roamed about the 
world to avoid ennui, while tnere was more than enough to 
occupy you at home. Your estates here, he declared, are 
mines )f wealth, but those to whose care they are intrusted 
are as heedless as yourself. The mismanagement of them 
defies description ; he shudders at an attempt even to appre- 
hend it.’* 

Mainau had turned away from her, and was steadily looking 
>ut of the window. She spoke with evident hesitation ; these 
vere matters in which she scarcely ought to interfere, not now, 
at all events, when she should so soon be gone, but she was 
speaking in Leo’s interest ; all that she could do for him she 
would do in these few last moments. 

“ Pshaw ! you know what my uncle is, with his terror of any 
diminution of the Mainau property ; his grasping avarice 
grows unendurable, — ^the old man is almost insane upon the 
subject. I assure you, everything could be perfectly adjusted 
in a few weeks. And what then? Shall I follow the plough 
myself by way of a change ? or, since I really do not care for 
music, had I not better undertake the management of the 
royal opera? Perhaps it might be well to apply for some 
vacant ministerial post. I dipped into jurisprudence at Bonn 
and Berlin, I have made a couple of campaigns, and my rank 
is undoubted, — what else is necessary?” He shook his head. 
“ Oh, never, never ! But advise me, sage sphynx, how shall 
I pass my time in Schbnwerth when my second wife has left 
me?” 

“ Have you never had any desire to write?” 

He turned upon her a look full of amazement. “ Do you 
want to make an author of me?” he asked, with an incredu- 
lous smile. 

“ If you agree with mamma and the Hofmarschall, you must 
not understand me as suggesting that you should venture into 
[)rint,” she replied, with a touch of humour in her tone. 

15 * 


i74 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


“You narrate interestingly and fluently I am corvinced 
that your style would be excellent ; you will write more effect- 
ively than you talk.” It was strange to see the spoi ed and 
petted man of the world cast down his eyes and blusi like a 
girl at such slight praise from his grave young wife. “ I 
should often like to write down your table-talk,” she added. 

“Aha ! then a keen critic has been sitting silently by my 
aide, while I have often been tempted to ask how many stitches 
it takes to finish a leaf in that eternal embroidery. Juliana, 
it was not fair to let me play such a ridiculous part — No, 
hush !” he cried, as she haughtily raised her head to refute 
his accusation, “ the punishment was just ! I confess,” he 
said, with some hesitation, “that I have sometimes longed 
to put on paper my impressions of travel, for instance, but my 
first modest attempts, in the shape of letters sent home from 
London, were such a striking failure that I forswore the pen 
forever. My uncle wrote me, in great irritation, begging me 
to forego such stupid descriptions, such tedious dissertations, 
with regard to the various courts that had so graciously re- 
ceived me, since my letters might easily fall into strange hands 
and compromise me ; and upon my return I found a fragment 
of one of these ‘ tiresome epistles’ wrapped round a cork of 
one of Valerie’s cologne-bottles.” 

Here Leo bounded into the room; the doctor was with 
his grandfather, and he had been allowed to come to see how 
his mamma was. He opened his eyes wide at sight of his 
father. How came he here, where the boy had never before 
seen him? 

“ Why, papa, what are you doing in the blue room ?” he 
asked, with something of the jealousy of one to whom alone 
hitherto an entrance here had been accorded. 

Mainau blushed slightly, and gently pushed the boy by the 
shoulders towards Liana. “ Gro, my boy, and put your arms 
around mamma’s neck, — eoe, I dare not go any farther with- 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


175 


out her permission, — and beg her to have a little patience with 
you and with me while we are together !” 

“ Oh, I am going with her, papa!” cried the child, throwing 
his arms around his mother’s knees. “ Mamma has often 
promised when she comes to me before I go to sleep at night 
that when she goes to Rudisdorf she will take me to see my 
uncle Magnus and aunt Ulrika.” 

“ What 1 How do you know that your mamma is going 
to Rudisdorf ?” asked Mainau, in some surprise. 

“ The court chaplain and the crown-prince’s mamma were 
talking about it by the huntsman’s cottage, — very softly, — but 
the crown-prince and I heard them. Promise, mamma, that 
you will take me.” 

“You must ask papa to let you come often,” she replied, 
with downcast eyes, but firmly enough, as her delicate fingers 
played among the boy’s dark curls. 

“We will see about it,” Mainau said, briefly. “Your 
amiable announcement this afternoon, Juliana, seems to have 
had the effect of an electric spark ; to-morrow all the sparrows 
on the roofs of the capital will be chattering how his holiness 
in Rome has his hands full at present to devise the untying 
of the knot that binds together two human beings who never 
can assimilate. Hm 1 of course you will not go before my 
departure.” 

“ I will do just as you think best. If you prefer it, I will 
not leave Schdnwertb until you have left it a day’s journey 
behind you.” 

He bowed slightly, and, stepping to the table, hastily folded 
the letter to Ulrika and put it into his breast-pocket. “ The 
right to confiscate is still mine ; this letter belongs to me 1” 
Then he bowed with ironical solemnity, as if retiring from an 
audience with a princess, and left the room. Leo suddenly 
burst into a flood of tears ; the child felt that he was about to 
ose his guardian angel. 


176 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


CHAPTEK XVIII. 

In the servants’ hall at Castle Schbnwerth the report thal 
the young baroness was to go to Rudisdorf, “ upon a visit,’’ 
during the absence of the baron, created but little sensation. 
The footmen declared that they had prophesied this “ visit” 
from the moment when they saw that their master had scarcely 
offered his wife any assistance in descending from the carriage 
upon her arrival ; the lady’s maid said she was not sorry, for 
it really shocked her feelings to serve a mistress who did not 
appreciate her husband, and who would wear thin muslins all 
the while ; and the red-haired scullery-maid sighed, and thought 
that the baron must dislike blondes, since all the pictures in 
his room had either brown or black curls, like his first wife’s ; 
he must have made a great mistake in marrying this one. 

In the upper regions of the castle everything was as sunny 
as possible. The parqueted floors enjoyed an immunity from 
the usual blows of the Hofmarschall’s stick. Leo had a pres- 
ent of a toy stable full of horses, the valet received a dress-coat 
not much the worse for wear, and instead of having the usual 
epithets hurled at him, of “ blockhead” and “fool,” had been 
addressed, for some days at least, as “ my friend,” or “ my good 
fellow and all this because the Frau Baroness had “ broken 
her neck.” 

The Hofmarschall had never spoken of the matter to his 
nephew, and there was no need to do so. Mainau had brought 
home this impoverished Protestant wife in direct opposition 
to his desires, nay, entreaties, and, now that the consequences 
he had prophesied had actually ensued, surely it was punish- 
ment enough. Everything went on smoothly and decorously 


TEE SECOND WIFE. 


177 


The young wife presided over the household as heretofore. 
She made the tea every evening, and attended to Leo’s lessons 
precisely as if nothing had happened, except that she avoided, 
with a kind of horror, any tete-d.-tete with the Hofmar- 
schall. He noticed this, and laughed in her face diabolically 
one evening when, in handing him a cup of tea, she shrank 
as from contact with a viper as her hand accidentally touched 
his. Yes, yes, he had been her evil genius, had even told her 
with a sneer of the precise moment when she had become a 
nonentity here. 

The young baron’s departure was delayed, because, in a 
short visit that he had made to his estate of Wolkershausen, 
he had found matters in such incredible disorder that it was 
impossible to leave them at present for so long an absence as 
he contemplated. This, at least, was the explanation of the 
delay that he gave to the Hofmarschall, almost occasioning 
the old man a fall from his chair in surprise at this sudden 
halt in his downward course of careless neglect. The new 
trunks had been banished to a garret, the odour of the Russia 
leather was so frightfully strong, and the brilliant farewell 
dinner that Mainau was to give at his club to his associates 
in the capital was indefinitely postponed. Probably it was all 
done to blunt the edge of scandalous gossip ; the duchess lent 
her aid, and she, of course, knew how matters stood, by ex- 
pressing a desire to see Liana at court “before she went to 
pay her visit to Rudisdorf.” The young wife did not refuse 
to comply; it would be the first and the last time. And 
“ the blonde Trachenberg, in the inevitable blue silk dress,” 
to quote the sarcastic maid of honour, appeared at court for 
half an hour, “ that she might carry back to the retirement of 
Rudisdorf at least one brilliant memory.” 

The jewel-box and the pressed plants were not sent, of 
course, — Liana was going henielf, — and the picture which was 
to have paid the expense of the Countess Trachenberg’s pleasure- 
M 


178 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


trip was never returned to her. Mainau had confiscated it, 
because it certainly was not desirable that such glimpses of 
family history should be disclosed to the world. Although he 
was absent continually during the day, and very much occupied 
with reforms upon his estates, he almost always contrived 
to appear in the evening at the tea-table, where his conduct 
underwent no change. He conversed with his uncle and the 
court chaplain, and seemed not to notice that the latter scarcely 
ever left Schdnwerth now, the duchess having granted him 
some weeks of absence, that his nerves, which had been affected 
of late, might be strengthened by the healthy country air. One 
evening, when the priest proposed that he should give Leo 
his hour of religious instruction in the nursery instead of the 
salon, — since he observed that the child’s monotonous repe- 
titions irritated the Hofmarschall’s nerves, — a strange gleam 
shone in Mainau’s eyes, and, in a very constrained voice, he 
reminded his reverence that he could scarcely propose thus to 
invade the domain of his Protestant wife. 

But a time came when it was necessary that he should re- 
main for awhile uninterruptedly at Wolkershausen. He rode 
over there one afternoon; his uncle and the court chaplain 
stood at the window, watching him mount his horse, while 
the young wife, who was going to walk in the garden with 
Leo, approached, that the child might “bid papa good-bye.” 
He held out his hand to Leo, but not to his wife. His coun- 
tenance, so closely observed by the two standing at the window, 
never changed. Patting his horse’s neck, he leaned from his 
saddle, and a pair of menacing eyes looked into Liana’s own. 
“ I hope to find you still a good Protestant upon my return, 
Juliana,” he said, in a low voice. She turned away provoked, 
and he rode out of the court-yard, waving a farewell to the 
open window. 

Every morning came a messenger on horseback from Wol- 
kershausen, with a note from Mainau himself, principally^ 


THE SECOND WIFE 


179 


requesting tidings as to Leo’s welfare. The HofmarschiiL 
laughed heartily a" this new whim of his eccentric nephew, who 
had suddenly become such a doting parent, when formerly he 
used to be absent from wife and child for months without hear- 
ing from them. He usually wrote the answer himself, just 
beneath the question, which was addressed to no one in par- 
ticular. But one morning the messenger, after delivering the 
official note in the salon, appeared at the door of Liana’s rooms 
and handed her a sealed packet. It contained several closel;5/' 
written sheets, and a visiting-card, upon which Mainau in- 
formed her that they were the beginning of a manuscript 
which he amused himself with inditing in the evenings, after 
the cares and toils of the day ; and he begged to offer them for 
her criticism. 

With a mixture of glad surprise and timid embarrass- 
ment, she held the sheets in her hand for one instant, unde- 
cided what to do. This new bond, the result of her own 
words, between herself and the husband whom she was shortly 
to leave forever, startled her, as if she had suddenly found 
herself amid strange surroundings ; but she replied to him, in 
a few hurried lines, that she would read his manuscript in the 
quiet retirement of the woods, near the forest-house, where she 
spent every afternoon with Leo. 

She herself had told him that she suspected an amount of 
literary talent in him ; and yet as she read these “letters from 
Norway,” addressed to “Juliana,” she was breathless with 
amazement. There was no hesitation in that vigorous hand. 
Those brilliant pictures and descriptions came rushing from 
their long confinement as upon the wings of the wind. The 
young wife hardly remembered who had written them. The 
capricious man of the world, with his courtly sneer and affected 
air of ennui, vanished before the lonely traveller upon wild crags 
and lofty steeps, thoughtfully contemplating human actions and 
weaknesses. All conventional nonsense disappeared from th« 


180 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


hardy hunter tracking, with the keen excitement of the chase 
the northern bear, traversing wastes of snow, and resting foi 
weeks in lonely farms among the mountains, charmed by the 
old German force of character, to which his own nature was 
allied, that he found among the people ; by the purity of their 
morals and the modesty of the women. And as she read these 
descriptions. Liana remembered with regret her own harsh accu- 
(ation, that he cared only to sip everywhere at the startling and 
dazzling. 

The young wife had read the manuscript through on the 
orevious day at the forest-house, — a late discovery of hers, — and 
she was again sitting there, with the sheets before her. This 
forest-house was none of those modern structures in the Swiss 
style that one sees planted on the edges of forests. It was 
an ancient cottage, with slanting walls and crooked windows, 
behind which the white crocheted curtains of the forester’s 
wife appeared |3ut dimly. The building had never rejoiced 
either in tiles or slates ; a well-preserved, stout roof of thatch 
covered it, crowned with a chimney mighty enough to suggest 
that a whole regiment of soldiers mjght have been cooked 
for and baked for in the fireplace within the house. A 
broad path, bounded by a low picket-fence, led through the 
little front garden directly to the house-door, usually stand- 
ing hospitably open, affording a glimpse of the sanded floor 
inside. In one corner of the fence stood a wooden bench 
overshadowed by a lofty pear-tree, the trunk of which was all 
wreathed and hung with a luxuriant wild hop- vine. Here sat 
Liana before a table, which the forester’s wife had covered 
with a cloth, and upon which she had placed the coffee-machine. 
The old house was buried in the depths of the forest ; there 
was no extended view in any direction, although, perhaps, 
from the dim little window in the gable, or the dovecot on the 
roof, a glimpse might be had of mountain-peaks, or even of a 
bit of the mosaic roof of Castle Schonwerth. Verbenas and 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


181 


dahlias were blooming in the garden, and before the door 
stood a fine oleander in a wooden tub, while scarcely ten steps 
off the blue harebells waved all around, damp fresh green 
mosses covered the roots of the trees, and in yet deeper shade 
little pale fungi peeped up everywhere. Here Liana always 
had a sensation of solitude that did her good. No one molested 
her. The forester’s wife kept at a respectful distance. The 
forester was almost always absent with his dogs and assistants, 
and silence, an enchanting silence, reigned about the old 
straw-thatched cottage, broken only by the cooing of the 
doves, and now and then by a gentle low from the cow in her 
stable. 

The young wife in her light summer dress might well have 
t)assed for the forester’s fair daughter, so maidenly and young 
did she look sitting under the tree, while the forester’s huge 
striped cat, showing small respect for Liana’s straw hat, which 
was lying beside her, occupied the other half of the bench. 
The brass coffee “machine” shone like gold, beside a loaf of 
schwarzbrod and a plate of butter, with a lacquered basket of 
yellow pears just shaken from the tree. 

This tempting arrangement was pushed aside for the mo- 
ment. Leo had found a late strawberry-blossom, and was 
busied, with his mother’s assistance, in preparing it for his 
herbarium. His brown curls were nestling close among her 
golden braids ; the rosy glow of youth coloured the cheeks 
of both; they were in the full enjoyment of the delicious air 
and freedom of the forest. 

“ There comes papa !” Leo shouted, suddenly, rushing with 
outspread arms down the dim forest-path that opened just op- 
posite the spot where they were. And in its depths Mainau 
appeared, walking quickly towards the forest-house in a light 
summer coat, stick in hand. Liana arose and went to meet 
him. while he tossed the boy high in the air, and, with a kiss, 
placed him on the ground again. 

16 


182 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


“From the depths of the forest, Mainau? And on foot?’ 
^he asked, in surprise. 

“ Good heavens ! I was tired of rattling along on the higr. - 
way. I drove over, — and I left the carriage at the turning 
of the road.” 

“ But it is a long walk from there?” 

He shrugged his shoulders with a smile. “Nothing at all 
when one has not seen his — boy for so long. Your note told 
me that I should find Schdnwerth deserted at this hour.” 
He approached the table. “ Why, how pleasant and homelike 
this looks!” he said, taking a seat upon the bench, carefully 
pushing the cat only a little aside, that her rights might not 
be too much infringed. 

Liana vanished for a moment within the forest-house and 
returned with hot water. In an instant the flame was burning 
beneath the little machine, and soon the delicious aroma of 
the coffee mingled with the air of the forest. As if she were 
really a forester’s daughter, the young wife then deftly cut and 
spread some inviting slices of bread-and-butter. 

“No, my boy, that is mamma’s place,” said Mainau, as he 
gently thrust Leo aside from the bench upon which he was 
climbing, and with a motion of his hand invited Liana, who 
had just filled the cups, to take her seat beside him. 

She hesitated ; he certainly might have pushed off the cat, 
for the space upon the other side was really very narrow ; but 
he did not do so. Her embarrassment was relieved, however, 
by the forester’s wife bringing out a cane chair ; she placed 
Leo upon the bench and herself took ^the chair. Mainau 
threw his hat upon the grass, and ran his fingers through his 
thick brown curls ; the forced smile with which he greeted the 
forester’s wife was anything but grateful. 

“Now I have seen with my own eyes what an unhappy 
marriage it is,” she said within-doors to her old maid-servant. 
“Just peep out. They are not even sitting beside each other. 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


183 


and lie looks as if the sweet, gentle lady had poured out vin- 
egar for him with those lovely hands, instead of coffee. Such 
a little spitfire as his first wife was the one for him. Men are 
80 queer!” 

The shadow upon Hainan’s brow had vanished. He leaned 
back upon the bench, so that the tendrils of the hop-vine 
swept across his forehead ; his glance strayed from the green 
depths of foliage above him to the picturesque cottage and the 
rustic table. 

“We seem to be playing a scene from the Vicar of Wake- 
field,” he said, smiling. “I really did not know that we had 
so charming a bit of forest loveliness here. The forester is 
begging for a new roof, to replace the straw one ; but I cannot 
have it changed.” With an air of great content he sipped his 
coffee. “ To find a table all spread here in the depths of the 
forest, when one has been driving on a dusty road, and walking 
several miles, is -” 

“ Oh, I know what it is,” his young wife interrupted him, 
eagerly. “ When I used to come home with Magnus from 
one of our expeditions in search of plants, tired and hungry, 
with burning hands and feet, and turned into the long alley 
by the fountain that you must remember, I could see from 
afar the table spread behind the glass wall of the garden-room, 
and the dear, ugly old arm-chairs that you must remember too, 
placed around it, while Ulrika would light the little spirit-lamp 
beneath the tea-kettle as soon as she saw us coming. Such a 
return is delightful, especially if you have been hurry- 
ing to avoid a storm and have felt the first drops of the 
shower upon your face, and can rest quietly in the sweet se- 
curity of home and hear the wind whistle and the rain patter 
down outside.” 

“ And such a return home you have pined for ever since you 
came to Schonwerth ?” 

Involuntarily she clasped her hands upon her breast, and 

I 


184 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


her eyes sparkled ; but she did not utter the “yes” that hovered 
upon her lips. 

“ Mamma always says that the last Trachenbergs are dying 
out and degenerate,” she slid, avoiding a direct reply, with a 
charming smile. “The desire to live a quiet, content home- 
life, and to find one’s own pleasure in ministering to the hap- 
piness of those whom we love, may be commonplace, as mamiLa 
says it is, and certainly there would have been no chance for 
it to strike the smallest root at Rudisdorf ten years ago ; but 
it has been a blessing indeed to us children. And yet we 
are no recluses, who would like to confine our interests within 
the narrow circle of home; we are restless enough, and like 
to know what is going on in the world. You will laugh when 
I tell you that we gave up sugar in our coffee, and butter on 
our bread, that we might buy books and scientific apparatus 
and subscribe to certain periodicals. Such a life spent together 
with common interests is so delightful ; and now that I have 
read your Norway letters, I cannot understand — oh, they are 
delicious, they go to my very heart!” she interrupted herself, 
laying her hand upon the manuscript on the table. “ If you 
could only be induced to publish them ” 

“Hush! not a word more, Juliana!” he cried, a sudden 
pallor chasing from his cheek the glow produced there by his 
wife’s first enthusiastic words. “Ho not conjure up again 
those ugly spirits now slumbering, quelled by your own twO' 
edged weapon !” He pressed his hand upon his breast-pocket 
“ I had your letter with me in Wolkershausen ; it is well written, 
Juliana, — so well written that it ought to be sown broadcast, fis 
a spell to exorcise the vanity of the male sex. You have a 
clear, philosophic mind. I grant that you are right in many 
things, although I do not believe that one must be impoverish ed 
to learn that the familiar sympathetic life of home is a life of 
true enjoyment.” 

He took up his manuscript absently and turned over ihe 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


185 


leaves, from between which fluttered a few smaller sheets 
These he picked up in surprise. 

“ Yes, only think,” Liana said, with a low laugh, “ your 
vivid descriptions had such an effect upon me that involun- 
tarily I took up my pencil and began to illustrate them.” 

“ You have an immense deal of talent, Juliana, — these are 
charmingly done ! How odd that your pencil should follow 
the d ascriptions so closely that it would seem you had written 
them and not I ! This pictured criticism hints at every thought 
that was in my mind, and yet — good heavens ! what am I 
saying? It is the deadliest, the most passionless objectivity 
that makes you my master.” He spoke harshly, and his voice 
had a sharp, hard sound. “ What if we went into partner- 
ship, Juliana? That is, I would write and you should illus- 
trate ?” he added, lightly. 

“ Grladly. Send me as many letters of travel as you will ” 

“ To my divorced wife ?” 

She shrank involuntarily. She might, indeed, have said to 
him, “ Our attitude towards each other in Schbnwerth is all 
wrong; we ought to share each other’s joys and woes, and yet 
our interests are utterly divided. You ought to be my pro- 
tector, and yet you allow me to be ill treated, and it never 
occurs to you to lift your finger to prevent it ; our connection 
is immoral, and I repudiate it. On the other hand, I would 
consent to much that would seem unfitting in the eyes of 
the world.” Of all that she thought she only said this last, 
and added, “I think an author might be allowed to corre- 
spond with the illustrator of his works. Who could complain 
if we did not part in hostility, but remained friends in spite 
of ” 

“ How dare you offer me this ? I wish for no friendship 
from you !” he exclaimed, almost savagely, as he rose hastily. 

I have fallen low enough in my own esteem, but I am one 
of those who will starve rather than bog. ’ 

16 * 


186 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


Perhaps the forester’s wife had been watching them through 
the half-open window, and anticipated a violent matrimonial 
dispute, for, in a low tone, she called Leo away to show 
him a colt at the back of the house. She was sorry for the 
child. 

Mainau walked some paces along the picket-fence, gazed 
for a few moments at the marigolds bordering a cabbage-bed, 
and then came slowly back to the table, where Liana was 
gathering together, with trembling hands, the sheets of paper 
that were scattered upon the grass. 

“ Has everything gone on as usual at Schonwerth. during 
my absence?” he asked, with forced composure, drumming 
with his fingers upon the table. 

“ I have nothing unusual to report, save tJiat Gabriel is 
drowned in tears in view of his approaching departure, and 
that Frau Lbhn seems much agitated and very unhappy.” 

“ Frau Lbhn ? What affair is it of hers ? And what in- 
duces you to think that anything can agitate that woman ? 
How strangely, how fancifully, you regard everything at Schbn- 
werth ! Lbhn, that masculine creature, that rough-hewn block, 
without nerves of any kind ! Why, she will be thankful to be 
rid of the boy.” 

“ That I decidedly do not believe.” 

“Ah ! you think her full of sensibility, I suppose ; just as 
you have discovered in that spiritless, puny boy the soaring 
genius of a Michael Angelo !” 

His sneer, evidently intended to hurt and offend her, irri- 
tated her, but she would not quarrel with him. 

“ I do not recollect having compared Gabriel to any of the 
great masters,” she replied, looking gravely at him; “ I only 
said that a decided talent for art was being smothered in him, 
and I now repeat this emphatically.” 

“ Pshaw ! who is smothering it ? If it is as remarkable as 
you suppose, it will find fitting soil in the cloister. Many 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


187 


a famous painter has been a monk. Besides, where is the 
use of discussing it? Neither my uncle nor I have made a 
priest of the boy ; we are only fulfilling a dead man’s last 
will.” 

“ Have you ever seen, and conscientiously examined, this 
iast will ?” 

He turned upon her, and his angry glance shot fire. “ Juliana, 
take care,” he said, in a low tone, raising his forefinger. “ You 
seem to me to wish to attaint the house you are about to leave. 
You would like to be able to say, ‘ I grant that bankruptcy has 
left an ugly stain upon the Trachenberg name, but all is not 
as it should be at Castle Schonwerth ; a story might be told of 
that great wealth which would hardly sound well.’ But let 
me tell you, in answer to these suspicions, that while my 
uncle is avaricious, arrogant to the last degree, and can be 
malicious enough on occasions, his clear head and cold tem- 
perament, that make him inaccessible to the temptations of 
evil passions, have enabled him to preserve uninjured the 
lofty principles of a genuine nobleman ; as such I trust him 
blindly, and regard even the slightest hint as to any dis- 
honourable act — a forged will, for example — as a deadly insult 
to my honour. Take heed to what I say, Juliana. And now 
I think it is time to go home ; there is an ominous murmur 
among the topmost boughs of the trees ; although it is but 
the first of September, the sultry weather forebodes a storm. 
Our return home will scarcely resemble the one you pictured 
so delightfully, but what of that? We must learn to do 
without it.” 

She turned from him and went into the house to get Leo. 
Her every nerve thrilled. “Liana, he is terrible!” Ulrika had 
exclaimed to her upon her marriage-day, and yet then he had 
merely been coldly composed. What would she have said to 
such an outbreak as this, when his tone and gestures had been 
fairly annihilating? And yet — ^strange to say — Liana had 


188 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


been silenced and distressed as she listened. She was deeply 
ofifended by his unjust accusations; but he was more compre- 
hensible to her thus than when shrouded in his artificial indif- 
ference and mock air of ennui. This was his true character, 
the same that was revealed in his writings, and that suddenly 
attracted her in spite of herself. How else could she have 
proposed to him a kind of friendly alliance? And at the 
thought she buried her burning face in her hands, — ^for had 
not her proposal been rejected? 


CHAPTER XIX. 

Dark clouds with white outlines that predicted hail were 
fl ying above the Schbnwerth domain as the little party issued 
from the forest near the huntsman’s cottage. Mainau, who 
had walked on before without speaking a word, proposed to 
await the storm in the little cottage ; but Liana reminded him 
of the Hofmarschall’s anxiety upon Leo’s account, and so they 
hurried through the garden. The wind whistled shrilly, the 
leaves were whirled from the fruit-trees, and the ripe fruit was 
blown to the ground with many a dull thud. 

Mainau made an impatient gesture when a groom informed 
Rim, as they approached the castle, that the riding-horses of 
the duchess and her maid of honour were in the stable ; her 
tiighness had been riding, and had “ taken refuge” in the castle 
from the coming storm. 

“ Eh ! shall we not have a delightful return to Schbnwerth? 
Could one be received more amiably and graciously ?” Mainau 
asked, sarcastically, indicating with an inclination of his head 
the steps of the grand entrance. The duchess in her blue 
riding-habit appeared from the glass door. The blast tossed 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


189 


the long black curls hanging down her back, and tore at the 
ostrich plume in her hat ; but she seized the balustrade on the 
landing with both hands, and looked down at the apparently 
harmonious pair advancing to the steps, with Leo between 
them, in such incredulous amazement that she quite ov3r 
looked Mainau’s salutation. She hastily withdrew, with a 
haughty turn of her head, into the salon, where the baron 
and baroness found her seated comfortably upon a lounge 
with the court chaplain and the Hofmarschall. 

It almost seemed as if the thunder-clouds without had in 
vaded the apartment and were hanging from the ceiling, so 
oppressive was the twilight that reigned in the spacious room. 
The white alabaster ornaments upon the walls glimmei-ed ghost- 
like, but the angry countenance of the royal lady had a still 
more ghastly hue ; the dim, uncertain light quenched the bril 
liancy of her beautiful eyes ; they shone like dull coals beneath 
the drooping brim of her light-gray felt hat. She replied to 
Liana’s courteous greeting by a haughty inclination of her 
head. 

“What new whim has seized you, Raoul?” cried the Hof- 
marschall, peevishly, to his nephew as he entered. “ Leaving 
your horses and carriage behind, to enjoy a sentimental walk 
in the woods ! Do you know that they very nearly came lu 
grief? How could you intrust those spirited Wolkershausen 
horses to such a stupid fellow as Andre? They ran away with 
nim, and he reached home half dead with fright.” 

“ Odd I he has had the sole management of them for a year. 
I suppose they shied again at the milestones. And my ‘ walk 
in the woods’ had nothing in the world to do with sentiment ; 
I merely objected to being scorched any longer by the burning 
sun.” 

“And you, madame, had better have gone alone to youi 
forest-house, for which you have suddenly developed such an 
enthusiasm,” the old man said, sharply, to Liana, withou/ 


190 


THE SECOND WIFE 


turning his head towards her; he deemed it unnecessary to 
change his comfortable posture on her account. “ Let me beg 
of you not to lay such exclusive claim to my grandson as 
Trachenberg property, with which you think you may do as 
you please. I have had a very anxious hour on the child’s 
account.” 

“I am very sorry for it, Herr Hofmarschall,” Liana frankly 
replied, entirely overlooking his offensively impertinent words 
and manner. 

The duchess was evidently relieved. She drew Leo towards 
her and caressed him. “ Here he is again, uninjured, my dear 
Herr von Mainau,” she said, soothingly, to the old man. 

Leo rudely extricated himself from the embrace of those 
beautiful arms ; he always obstinately insisted that he did not 
like “ the crown-prince’s mamma.” But he was greatly pleased 
with her highness’s riding-whip, that lay on the table before 
hei. The handle terminated in a beautifully modelled tiger’s 
head of wrought gold with diamond eyes. “ The riding-whip 
is in the picture that used to stand upon papa’s writing-table,” 
he said, — he meant the photograph of the duchess in her 
riding-dress. “But it isn’t there now,” he continued, making 
the whip whistle in the air, “ nor any of the other pictures 
either ; and the paper is a beautiful dark-red where they hung ; 
and the stupid blue shoe is gone ” 

“ What, Baron Mainau I have you made a tabula rasa?'' the 
duchess asked, hastily. “ Have you banished all your mementos 
together?” There was all the pride of a royal mistress in her 
bearing ; but her low, deprecatory tone spoke of a kind of eagei 
terror as it were. She knew the arrangement of Hainan’s 
rooms well ; during the life of his first wife they had frequently 
been thrown open to the gay world. 

He stood before her, and encountered the burning glance of 
her eyes with a calm, almost an amused, air. “ They are care- 
fully packed up, your highness,” he said. “ I am going away 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


191 


for a long absence, and could not leave these memorials to the 
dust or the careless hands of servants.” 

“ But, papa, you have put my picture where the glass (jase 
with the shoe used to be; and the new picture that mamma 
painted hangs on the wall,” I<eo went on to declare. 

Mainau did not look at the duchess, or at any one of thofe 
present, as Leo spoke, except his young wife, towards whom 
he turned h istily, and almost angrily, as if intensely annoyed 
that she should hear these childish revelations. 

“Then you confiscated that picture, Raoul?” exclaimed the 
Hofmarschall. “I took the liberty of doubting the Frau 
Baroness’s denial of having appropriated it again. 1 pray your 
pardon, madame! I did you injustice.” And he inclined his 
head with ironical gravity to Liana. “I am content; it will 
do no harm in your possession, Baoul ; let it hang in the recess 
of the window. But do you know the price set upon it by the 
artist? Forty thalers ” 

“ I beg you to leave to me alone the care of adjusting that 
matter,” Mainau interrupted him, with some violence. The 
old man shrank back at sight of that wrathful face. 

The duchess and her maid of honour sat by, not at all com- 
prehending this little dialogue; but the court chaplain, who 
had been leaning back indifferently, now started forward, 
and, with his hands on the arms of his chair, gazed with 
almost demoniac intentness into the baron’s handsome augry 
fiice, as if to read there some carefully-guarded secret. 

“ Good heavens, Raoul, this irritation is very unnecessary I 
Do not excite yourself. I only want justice to be done,* said 
the Hofmarschall. 

Mainau looked at him gravely. “ I willingly believe you, 
uncle; but it often happens that your manner of doing justice 
is unfortunate, to say the least. No one has more reliance 
upon your sense of right than I hare. You are the only Mainau 
now upon whom I can depend with aU my pride of rank, all 


192 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


my confidence in the integrity of those bearing our name 
Apropos, Qow that I think of it, will you let me look over 
those papers by which Uncle Gisbert communicated with those 
around him in his last illness ? I was vividly reminded of him 
at Wolkershausen, as I stood before that wonderful portrait 
of him and saw to my regret how it had sufiered from the 
dust and damp. It must be restored. Those papers are hl«* 
last words to us.” 

“ You shall have them ; do you want them immedi- 
ately?” 

“Are they not there in one of your curiosity-drawers?” 
Baron Mainau asked, lightly, pointing to the rococo cabinet. 
“If you would have the goodness to open it.” 

The Hofmarschall amiably arose, and hobbled across the 
room. He opened the drawer in which lay the Countess 
Trachenberg’s note. With the tips of his fingers he held up 
the rose-coloured paper to the duchess, smiling maliciously. 
“Fair memories, your highness; ashes of roses, nothing more, 
but worth thousands to me,” he said, as he tossed it back into 
the drawer. Then he took out a thick roll of papers tied 
v^ith a black riband and handed it to Mainau, who instantly 
untied it. 

“ Ah ! his directions with regard to Gabriel are the first to 
appear,” said Mainau, taking a thin strip of paper from the 
interior of the roll. “ It was the last expression of his will in 
writing, was it not?” 

“It was his last will,” the Hofmarschall replied, as he 
returned to his wheeled chair. 

Mainau took out two or three other papers, and laid them 
side by side on the table. “It is very remarkable,” he said. 
“ This last direction was written, they say, only a few hours 
before his death, and yet there is not the slightest change in 
his peculiar, decided handwriting: every comma and period is 
exact ; the approach of death had no effect upon the steadiness 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


193 


of liis hand. It was fortunate ; for discredit might else easily 
have been cast upon these unwitnessed documents.” 

The duchess with some curiosity took one of the strips 
from his hand. “ A characteristic hand, hut difficult to de- 
cipher,” she observed. “‘I expressly desire that the boy 
Q-abriel be devoted to the service of the Church. In the retire- 
ment of the cloister let him pray for his fallen mother’ ” 

she read, with hesitation. 

“ Would you not also like to look at these interesting memo- 
rials of a dying man, Juliana?” Mainau asked, turning towards 
his young wife, who stood with her hands resting upon the high 
back of an empty arm-chair. She did not look at him as he 
sought thus to shame her. Not one of all those about her 
suspected his meaning, but every word was a well-aimed thrust 
at her alone. Why had she been so bold as to stretch forth 
a hand to lift the veil from the secret at which Frau Lohn had 
hinted? Mainau held out to her two sheets of paper; without 
touching them she carefully compared them. There was the 
same handwriting on each sheet, the same flourish after the 
concluding word; and these characters were too original, 
too oddly characteristic, to leave a chance for their successful 
imitation ; but yet 

The entrance of a footman with a card for Mainau put an 
end to this distressing scene. 

“ Oh, yes !” cried the Hofmarschall, lightly tapping his 
forehead. “ I entirely forgot, Raoul ! An hour ago a young 
man drove up, and alighted with such an easy air of assur- 
ance as to make it plain that he intended to remain here. He 
announced that he was here by your desire, and had I not 
enjoyed the priceless pleasure of welcoming her highness, I 
should have sent for him to know what he wants ” 

“He is to remain here, uncle; it is Leo’s new tutor,” re- 
plied Mainau, composedly, as he carefully gathered the papers 
together. 

N 


17 


194 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


The Hofmarschall leaned forward as if he had not heard 
aright. “ My dear Raoul, I must have misunderstood you, ’ 
he said, slowly emphasizing every word. “ Did you really 
say Leo’s new tutor? Heavens! have I been sleeping or 
delirious for months, to have known nothing of it?” 

Hainan’s lips quivered sarcastically. “ The change has not 
been contemplated for months, uncle. The young man was 
recommended to me some time ago, and now that I want him 
I sent for him. Fortunately, he was without engagement, 
and has arrived two days earlier than I had intended, which 
is the only reason why you were not advised of his coming, at 
least a day before his appearance.” 

“ It would have made no difference in my express desire that 
this same young man should not remain in Schbnwerth.” 

Hainan was just about to carry the loose papers in his hand 
back to the cabinet ; but at the last words, which were spoken 
with ineffable impertinence, he turned and looked at the speaker. 
The ladies present involuntarily cast down their eyes at the 
angry expression of that handsome face. 

The Hofmarschall was no whit abashed ; he was raging, as 
was plainly to be seen in the quiver of his pointed chin, and 
the way in which his white fingers clutched the crimson silk 
pocket-handkerchief lying upon his lap. “ Hay I be per- 
mitted to ask at least what has induced this — coup-d'etat on 
your part?” 

“ You can easily answer that question yourself, uncle,” 
Hainan replied, controlling himself, but with a contemptuous 
shrug. “ I am about to travel, — I think I have said so often 
enough, — to be gone a year ; the baroness is going to Rudis- 
dorf, she will no longer instruct Leo,” — at this cold declaration 
a gknce of ill-concealed triumph shot from beneath the duch- 
ess’s drooping eyelids to where the young wife was standing, 
composed and calm in her former attitude, — “ and — and tl is 
is more important than all — we can hardly require that hi# 


THE SECOND WIFE, 


195 


reverence should come so frequently during the winter to 
Schdnwerth to impart religious instruction to Leo. ’ 

“ Ah, bah ! That is all nonsense That is no reason 
iu your own eyes. On the contrary, you know that oui 
excellent court chaplain has lately even offered to instruct the 
child in other branches ” 

“ Oh, yes, I remember,” Mainau replied, drily ; “ but you 
iannot wonder that, with my horror of all perverted views of 
history and science, I should decline to accept so kind and 
disinterested an offer.” 

“ Herr Baron !” exclaimed the priest. 

“Your reverence?” Mainau asked, slowly, in a scornful 
tone, as with half-closed eyes he measured the man with a 
long, searching glance. 

His contempt was crushing. The priest arose and looked 
as if he would have made an angry rejoinder, but the Hof- 
marschall put his hand upon his arm, and endeavoured to 
draw him down into his seat again. 

“ Raoul, I do not understand you. How can you insult 
his reverence thus, and in the presence, too, of her highness 
the duchess ?” he cried, in a low voice. 

“Insult? What have I said? I ask yourself. Does 
the Church treat of things as they are ? Must it not, if it 
would retain its authority, obstinately deny much that is as 
clear as that two and two make four? Does it not make 
planets stationary that, in obedience to the laws of the Eternal 
Creator, are in continual motion ? Does it not represent a? 
the work of good or evil spirits what is due to the intelligence 
and activity of mortal man ? Does it not exalt all the hocus- 
pocus of penance and pilgrimage above the efficacy of the 
intellect of the physician, above the means of healing that the 
love of God has placed at our disposal, yes, even above His 
almighty wisdom, alleging that He may be induced thereby 
to se^ aside laws that He himself has ordained?” 


196 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


The Hofmarschall clasped his hands in dismay, and sank 
back in his arm-chair. “ Heaven help us, Raoul ! I nevei 
before saw you thus.” 

“ True,” Mainau replied, shrugging his shoulders, “ you 
have not; I have never had much to say about all this: 
the weak arguments and logic of these people are pro- 
voking enough, sheltering themselves, as they do, with an ail 
of conquest behind their ‘ all things are possible with God 
but who wants to pull a nest of black wasps about his 
ears, here in God’s lovely world which he would fain enjoy ? 
I have been somewhat startled from my indolent silence, how- 
ever, by the plan to blow up the witch in the Indian garden, 
which came within a hair of costing my boy his eyesight. I 
mistrust the religious teaching that bears such fruit, and it 
seems to me that our only chance of a radical cure is in 
beginning with youthful brains as soon as possible, since very 
little can be done with the elder thousands that cumber the 
earth.” 

“ How unjust, Baron Mainau ! Is this your opinion of 
sacred simplicity?” cried the bigoted maid of honour, who 
could no longer restrain herself. “ Did you not, only a few 
days ago, declare how much you admired it in women?” 

“ And I say the same to-day, fair lady,” he replied, falling 
back into his usual frivolous tone. “ A smooth white brow 
beneath its silken curls, never thinking deeply, and sweet red 
lips that prattle innocently, — can anything be more charming 
in our eyes ? Oh, yes, I love these women, but I — do not 

espect them.” 

“ And when the silken curls are gray, and the sweet red 
lips are no longer wreathed with childlike smiles, then the toy 
is thrown aside, — eh, Baron Mainau?” the duchess asked, 
sharply, as with careless grace she described figures upon the 
table with the handle of her riding-whip, the diamond eyes 
of the tiger gleaming pi ismatically as she did so. 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


197 


*‘Do such women desire anything else, your highness?'' 
Mainau asked, in return, with a cold smile. 

“ It is time, then, that we took up again our Latin and 
chemistry, with which our school-girl days were tormented !” 
laughed the royal lady, with a sneer. “ They used to say 
that I learned quickly and easily, — the faculty may have 

diminished with years, — I might try What would you 

think, Baron Mainau, if, upon your return from the East, I 
greeted you with a Latin address, and then conducted you 
into my laboratory to regale you with a few choice scientific 
experiments ?” 

“ Ah, a blue-stocking in deshabille, with her hair in dis- 
order !” Mainau exclaimed, joining in her scornful laugh. “ Oh 
your highness, this antipathy of mine is indelible ; but it has 
occurred to me lately that there may be women who intelli- 
gently investigate the wonders of nature, whose clear mental 
organization scorns the leading-strings of tradition, and longs 
to discover and judge for itself, but with whom this desire is 
secondary to that which animates them to preserve undimmed 
the fire on the hearth of home, with all the grace which is 
woman’s especial gift.” 

“ My dear Baron Mainau, there may be some great artist 
who will paint you such a woman!” said the maid of honour, 
with a contemptuous titter, as the duchess arose, as if weary 
of the conversation. 

When Mainau and the court chaplain began their short war 
of words. Liana had taken Leo’s hand in hers and retired with 
him to a distant window-recess. The rain had come; it was 
descending in a pouring shower, dashing against the window- 
panes, and hiding the andscape outside behind a gray veil, 
through which the tall trees, swaying and tossing, looked like 
phantoms striving to break the spell that chained them to one 
spot. The lightning had ceased to play without, but the 
•tormy atmosphere inside, from which Liana had turned away, 
17 * 


198 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


was still threatening. What strange denial was this from 
Mainau of those precepts which he had hitherto advocated 
for the sake of peace? Was this but another caprice, akin to 
the one which had induced him to marry a Protestant, impov- 
erished wife? or was it due to a radical mental change? 

Liana did not turn round, not even when she heard chaira 
pushed away and the court chaplain’s firm, majestic step, as 
he walked towards the glass door. Immediately afterwards 
Mainau audibly closed the drawers in the cabinet. Almost at 
the same moment a train rustled ; there was a strong odour of 
millefleurs, the favorite perfume of the duchess, in the air near 
the window, and an arm was suddenly passed about Liana’s 
slender waist. “Your figure is charming, lady fair,” a voice — 
it was that of the duchess — ^hissed in her ear; “but I am not 
afraid of those soft, strong arms. You must yield. The in- 
exorable Eastern journey will be your ruin.” 

The lips that uttered these words were white as ashes ; and 
the Medusa face that looked into her own as she turned in 
terror, fairly petrified Liana. 

“Let go of my mamma; you hurt her 1” cried Leo, pushing 
between the two ladies ; but the duchess had already retreated. 

“Not for the world, my little man; how could I have the 
heart!” she said, with a gay laugh, as she stepped up to the 
mirror to set her hat more firmly upon her head and put up 
the curls which the damp air had untwisted. The maid of 
honour hastened to assist her. 

Meanwhile, Liana left the recess and passed near her hus- 
baud, her pulses still throbbing with terror. “ Never let that 
woman touch you again 1” he said, in a voice so low that she 
alone heard it. “I will not have it!” Words and manner 
were harsh and peremptory, and she involuntarily stood still. 

“ Heavens, what a storm ! How provoking ! MyArmmiu? 
will have to spend the night at Schbnwerth,” said the duchess 
at the same moment, still occupied before the mirror, from tht 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


199 


depths of which her large eyes gleamed strangely. “ Will you 
have the great kindness, Baron Mainau, to have me driven 
"home? I must go back, and it is almost too late now.” 

Mainau courteously declared that he should have the 
pleasure of driving her himself, and left the room to give the 
necessary orders, and to say a few words of welcome to the 
new tutor. 

As if nothing had occurred, the duchess seated herself be- 
side the Hofmarschall, who had shrouded himself in an angry 
silence, and talked with him upon commonplace matters, draw- 
ing the court chaplain into the conversation, until Mainau 
returned wrapped in his cloak, and two footmen stationed 
themselves with umbrellas outside the glass door, while thr 
fiery chestnuts stamped and snorted before the steps. 

“Will you come with us?” she asked the court chaplain. 

He excused himself upon the ground of a game of chess 
ihat he had promised to play with the Hofmarschall in the 
evening, and recoiled as Mainau negligently brushed past him 
to open the glass door. 

The beautiful princess swept out with a graceful inclination, 
and the Hofmarschall threw himself back in his chair with 
a sigh. “Pray close the door, your reverence!” he said, 
peevishly. “You ought not to have had it opened ; but I 
said nothing, since your reverence seemed to wish it. That 
wretched air went through me like a knife ; to-morrow I shall 
be miserably ill ; and then all this annoyance and vexation is 
too much. Pray conduct me to my own warm room ; I will 
rest there until the fire is lighted here; it has grown bitterly 
cold. Allons. Leo, come with me!” he called to the boy, who 
was nestling close to Liana’s side. 

“I want to stay with mamma, grandpapa ; she is all alone,” 
said the child. 

“Your mamma is never alone; she holds commune with 
nature, and has no need of us,” replied the old man, rjoa 


200 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


liciously. ‘‘ Come here, as I bid you.” He took the reluctant 
boy by the hand and drew him with him, as the coiarC chaplain 
pushed the wheeled chair from the room. 


CHAPTER XX. 

Liana returned to the window. The roll of the carriage- 
wheels had died away in the distance; the woman with the 
beautiful Medusa face, who loved him so passionately that she 
forgot her royal dignity and was nothing in his presence save a 
jealously loving woman, was driving through the forest, buried 
in the white satin cushions of his carriage. Why had he 
brought away the young girl from Rudisdorf ? Why had he 
not wooed a royal bride? He would have been received there 
with open arms. Liana thought of the encounter in the 
foi^^st upon her marriage-day. There was some mystery here. 
“This inexorable Eastern journey will be your ruin!” the 
duchess had whispered, — she seemed still to feel the hot breath 
upon her neck. The ruin of what? She had done all that 
she could to fulfil her duty, but, thank Heaven, her pride had 
never failed her; she had never lifted a finger to gain Hainan’s 
love. The duchess was wrong there; but she was right in 
maintaining that the contemplated journey would entirely dis- 
solve the loosened tie, even though Liana did not persist in her 
determination to go away. And it was humiliating 1 When, 
after a year or more, he returned, no one would remember 
that a Countess Trachenberg had once passed some unhappy 
days at Schbnwerth, days full of severe trial and struggle ; he 
himself would have shaken off the ugly memory, and would 
return to claim the lovely hand stretched forth to greet him 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


201 


Involuntarily the young wife pressed her closed hand upon 
her breast. What was this inexplicable pain that assailed 
her? Was it so terrible, then, to be rejected for the sake of 
another ? She thought of the moment when he forbade her 
to allow the duchess to touch her, — what was his motive? 
Jealousy ; he grudged even to his wife that gracious contact 
She buried her face in her hands, — what miserable weakness 
was this ? 

She slowly left the window to go to her room. As she 
passed the cabinet she suddenly paused; the key was still 
sticking in the drawer. Mainau had forgotten to take it out, 
and the Hofmarschall, in his vexation, had never thought of 
asking for it. Liana’s heart throbbed violently ; there lay the 
paper upon which G-abriel’s fate depended ; she would so like 
to examine it once more ; such documents should be subjected 
to other tests than the naked eye. But the drawer would 
have to be opened ; it did not belong to her, and the key had 
been left in it by mistake. Was it not dishonourable to take 
out the paper ? No, she would replace it uninjured ; and 
Mainau had asked his uncle for the roll of papers that she 
might examine this particular one. She hastily opened the 
drawer, — her mother’s pink note lay before her ; she shrank as 
her hand accidentally touched it, — the paper which she sought 
was lying open on top of the others. 

She took it out and breathlessly sought her apartments. 
In a few moments it was placed beneath the microscope, hex 
faithful aid in her studies. Involuntarily she recoiled ; the 
inexorable glass revealed a terrible fraud. Every carefully* 
written letter had been first traced in pencil ; and although 
this could not be discovered by the naked eye, each pencil- 
mark was now plainly visible, like a shadow, on each side of 
the ink of these apparently firmly-written characters, and 
where the ink was a little thin, the line of the lead could 
plainly be discerned. It had been a laborious task; the 

j* 


202 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


forger had put together letters carefully traced from genuin-a 
manuscripts to form the words to suit his purpose. But who 
had done it? And why? The paper had been written 
without legal witnesses ; the forgery had been committed to 
exercise a moral influence upon one person whose voice was 
all-powerful in this case; that person was Mainau — had he no^ 
himself told her that he had at flrst considered the boy as his 
uncle’s lawful heir ? Had this been done for lands and wealth, 
or had religious fanaticism also added an incentive to the 
crime ? The last sentence was, “ The woman must and shall 
be baptized for the sake of her soul’s salvation.” 

Liana threw herself upon her couch. Her pulses were throb- 
bing violently, a nervous tremor made her step uncertain. 
She must first be more composed ; she could see no one in 
this state of agitation. Mainau had a noble nature; those 
who knew him had seen clearly that to induce him to lend 
himself to an injustice he must be deceived ; he could not be 
tempted to a wrong which he could recognize as such. The 
paper must be put back in the drawer, it must be taken 
thence before his eyes ; for (and her lips quivered with pain 
at the thought) he would sooner mistrust her, the stranger, 
than believe that such frauds could have been perpetrated in 
his Schbnwerth, the home of morality and honour. He 
should learn the facts, — Gabriel’s future was at stake. 

She slipped back to the salon. Meanwhile the fire had been 
lighted. Heavy damask curtains were drawn close before 
the windows, and had muffled the monotonous sound of the 
plashing rain outside. The tea-table was spread, and in its 
midst stood the large lamp, with a green shade over the glass 
globe, its light but scantily illumining the huge room ; the 
furniture against the walls looked shapeless and strange, 
and in the corners scarcely a ray of light penetrated ; but 
around the fireplace the burning logs threw a bright gleam 
cpon the polished floor. 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


203 


The young wife looked timidly around, — no one was there. 
She walked to the cabinet, opened the drawer, and, unrolling 
ihe papers, put back the one she had brought. At this moment 
her hand was seized and held in the drawer ; she could not 
even cry out, so deadly was her terror, that made her feel as if 
she should faint, as she turned and looked into the face of 
the court chaplain. He threw his arm around her, clasped 
her helpless figure close, and then pressed repeatedly to his 
burning lips the hand which he still held. 

“ Compose yourself, dearest lady I I alone saw you ; there 
is no one except myself in the room,” he whispered, in low. 
soothing tones. 

That voice restored her to herself ; she tore herself from his 
clasp and thrust his hand away. “What did you see?” she 
asked, in a faltering voice, but her form dilated proudly. 
“ There is nothing of intrinsic value in these drawers. Could 
I desire — ^to steal ?” 

“ What an idea to be harboured behind that regal brow ! 
I would as soon attaint the memory of my — mother with such 
a foul suspicion as your pure soul, — trust me ! This you can 
understand, for was it not filial affection that brought you 
hither? Who could blame you, madame, for wishing to de- 
stroy the little note which has been used to torment you?” 
He took the note from the drawer. “ Let us together bum 
this rose-coloured witness of a mother’s error.” 

She hastily snatched the letter from him, and threw it into 
its former place. “Would that not be a theft? Is it 
addressed to me?” she cried. “It must stay where it is. No 
wrong that I could commit can wash the stain from my 
mother’s fair fame.” She retreated to the other corner of the 
cabinet, as if she could hardly put space enough between her- 
self and this priest who had dared to touch her. The green 
light from the lamp fell upon her delicate, noble profile ; it 
seemed cut in marble, so stern was its expression. Hcj had 


204 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


tried to entangle her in his toils ; had she displayed less firm 
ness, had she shown the slightest hesitation, she would have 
been lost ; he must learn that she thoroughly understood him. 

How dare you offer me aid to do a disgraceful deed ?” she 
said. 

“You wilfully misapprehend my motive and display hos- 
tility towards me whenever you can,” he said, bitterly, — there 
was a passionate tone in his utterances that was not feigned, 
she could not but admit,— “ and yet you have no truer friend 
on earth than I.” 

“ I have two friends, my brother and sister. I desire no 
other friendship,” she replied. 

At this icy repulse he struck his heart with his clenched 
fist, and, with a strange fire in his eyes, advanced a step 
towards her. “ Madame,” he said, hoarsely, “you should not 
venture to use such haughty words here in Schbnwerth, where 
you are but loosely planted in a foreign soil, — a plaything for 
every wind that blows ” 

“ Thank Grod, it has not caused me to desert my principles in 
the slightest degree.” 

“ Of what consequence to the world are your mental con- 
victions, while it whispers the most degrading things with 
regard to your questionable position in this house, and the 
motive in consequence of which you became Frau von Mai- 
nau!” 

She grew still paler. “What does that mean?” she said, 
in a voice that trembled in spite of herself. “I know the 
motive in consequence of which I am here. I am to be a 
mother to Leo, and the mistress of the household — a position 
that in no wise insult# my dignity as a woman,” she added, 
haughtily. 

Her composure evidently aggravated him. 

“It would be well could you really occupy that position!” 
he said, hastily. “ But the years and rank of the Hoftnarschall 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


205 


render the presence of a dame d’honneur at social festivities 
entirely superfluous at Schbnwerth. He also understands the 
management of a household as few women can pretend to, and 
Lee is to pursue a military career. He will soon leave Schbn- 
werth and the maternal guidance. That motive was hardly 
worthy of consideration ; the spring of action was a burning 
desire for revenge. It may, however, not be insulting to a 
w oman’s dignity to know that she has been married solely to 
wound and outrage another after a fashion which is the very 
refinement of cruelty.” 

The large gray eyes of the young wife were riveted in 
speechless horror upou the speaker; but the mute pain, the 
undisguised terror of that look instigated him to inexorable 
severity. “ Whoever knows Baron Mainau knows that all he 
does is for effect. Listen to his plan of action in this case. 
In his youth he passionately loved a lady of high rank, who 
returned his affection as ardently ; she was forced by her rela- 
tives to resign him that she might accept the highest position 
in the realm. Perhaps Baron Mainau is right in calling her 
faithless ; but every one else saw in her act only a fearful sacri- 
fice to the duties of her position. Death freed this woman, 
who never had ceased to love him ; a new morning dawned 
for the poor victim in ermine and purple. How gladly would 
she at all times have cast aside regal show and splendour 
to be a faithful, loving wife ! And Baron Mainau, — who ever 
foresaw what his course would be? During the time of her 
mourning his intercourse with her was easy and unrestrained, 
until the moment came when she could lay it aside, and, glow- 
ing with love and hope, await the renewal of his suit. Then, 
in the face of the assembled court, he coldly announced to her 
his betrothal with Juliana, Countess von Trachenberg. It cer- 
tainly produced a tremendous effect; it was a fiendish triumph.” 

Liana had clasped her hands upon the carved corner of the 
cabinet and leaned her brow upon them. She would gladly 

18 


206 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


have sunk into the ground, where she might no longer houi 
that pitiless voice as it went on wounding incurably her family 
pride, her feminine dignity, and — ^yes, her heart. 

“ Mainau cared little what took place after this farce waa 
concluded,” the priest continued, hurriedly. It seemed as if 
he hoarded every moment that was his, alone and without 
witnesses, with this woman. ‘‘ There is no room in that man’s 
soul for any sense of duty, as he showed by his ruthless neglect 
of his first lovely, amiable, and noble wife,” — there she lifted 
her head : the priest lied ; the woman who stamped and threw 
about scissors in her impatience of contradiction was certainly 
not noble, — “ and he had married her only to prove to the 
royal lady that he cared nothing for her faithlessness. But, 
madame, her position was an enviable one in oomparison with 
that of the second victim to his boundless vanity. She had 
her father to befriend her. The second wife owns in him her 
bitterest ene ny. He now knows that this hated second mar- 
riage was but the consequence of an inappeasable thirst for 
revenge, knows that the royal lady will still bend all her ener- 
gies to conquer in the end ; and he is her most zealous ally, — 
the Mainau pedigree will derive an additional splendour from 
the nimbus of a royal alliance.” 

“Again I ask you why you say this to me,” she suddenly 
interrupted him, regaining her firm and dignified bearing. 
“I am about voluntarily to depart, as they all know. 1 
shall make very little trouble for the duchess and her ally; 
but while I still bear the name of Mainau, I will not suffer 
the husband to whom I am bound to be slandered in my 
presence, whatever his course may have been. I pray your 
leverence to heed this. Besides, I cannot decide which 
most to condemn, the levity of the man of the world, or 
the frivolity of the priest, who, aware of the truth, dared 
to invoke the blessing of Heaven upon such a crime. The 
first made sport of women’s hearts, after the fashion of 


THE SECOND T^IFE. 


207 


his class ; the other blasphemed Grod, transforming che altar to 
a stage, upon which he acts the part of a clever mime.” She 
spoke loudly, earnestly ; she forgot all prudence, all self-con- 
trol. “This Schbnwerth is an abyss; to Mainau’s honour be 
it said, he is not aware of it ; he knows nothing of the dark 
deeds that taint the air of his castle; he never dreams that 
the documents upon which he places implicit confidence are 
forged ” She paused in terror, so vivid a ray of intel- 

ligence suddenly animated the priest’s features. He hastily 
took from the drawer the paper she had examined and held it 
towards the light. 

“You mean this document, madame? The investigator has 
examined it microscopically, and has discovered ” 

“That it is traced in pencil,” she said, firmly. 

“You are right; every letter was traced against the window- 
pane. and then inked over,” he rejoined, with perfect compo- 
sure. “ I know it perfectly well, and know, too, what a trying 
task it was to the nerves, for I — I myself composed and wrote 
this paper. Oh, do not look away with such aversion, madame I 
Is it nothing, does it not touch you, to have me thus humble 
myself in your presence and confess ? There is no cause why 
you should not touch this hand. It wrought not for gold or 
gain, not for earthly dominion, but for the realization of lofty 
ideas. Might I not have so shaped this last will as to have 
conferred wealth upon my order ? Baron Mainau believes in 
the genuineness of the paper, — he Would not have disputed it 
in any case; and the Hofmarschall — well, for certain reasons, 
he would have been forced to yield it credence. But no 
such gain occurred to me. I only wanted two souls: the 
heathen mother to be baptized, the boy to be devoted to 
the mission. Our century hates and persecutes as fanaticism 
this devotion of an ardent human soul to the priestly calling; 
it forgets that a flame encircled by an iron band soars heaven- 
wards and ” 


?08 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


“Burns heretics,” she interrupted, in an icy tone, as she 
turned away. 

He crushed the paper in his hand. “ It soars no longer,” 
he murmured, in half-stifled tones. “No fervent prayer, no 
self-castigation, will ever avail to kindle it again : another fire 
consumes me.” He held out towards her his hand with the 
crushed paper. “ Madame, you can accuse me of forgery, and 
with two words from your lips and this convincing document 
Gabriel will be free. You can degrade me from my enviable 
position, rob me of the power that I possess over the mighty 
ones of the earth, — do it! I will be silent; not an eyelash 
shall quiver. Give me up to my numerous enemies. Only grant 
that I — when you have left Schbnwerth — may be near you.” 

She looked at him as if turned to stone. Was he insane? 
Her stately figure took upon it new dignity. “ Your reverence 
forgets that the living in the gift of my brother, as lord of 
Rudisdorf, is Protestant,” she said to him, over her shoulder, 
with an icy smile. 

“The psychologist is right — it is true that those women 
are the cruellest whose heads wear like a crown that golden 
glory.” The words came muttered, as it were, from his lips 
“You are wise, madame, and few in whose veins flows royal 
blood are so haughty ; you imagine that with one turn of your 
graceful head you can assert your position above the common 
herd, whose place is in the dust. It may be so with others, 
but not with me. I shall follow you step for step ; I will dog 
your every movement; never will I withdraw the hand that I 
have stretched forth towards you. Repulse me, crush me b( • 
neath your feet — I will endure it all in silence, without lesish 
ance ; but you will never be free from me. My Church re- 
quires that her priest shall fast and pray, that in untiring zeal 
he shall mine beneath the soil like a mole, that he shall bridge 
the air. An enthusiasm far other than this fanatical self 
votion shall animate me until — ^you are mine!” 


THE SECOND WH E. 


209 


She shuddered. Now she knew that he was not labouring 
to win her soul for his Church. The peijured priest loved the 
woman. She was horror-stricken, and yet this flood of elo- 
quence, laying bare in its wild utterances all the stormy strug- 
gles and sorrows of a human soul, while it repelled, exercised 
a certain magnetism over the young wife ; she had never be-' 
fore heard the undisguised language of absorbing passion from 
a man’s lips. Did he read the strange mixture of disgust and 
a momentary attention in the expression of the beautiful pale 
Face that was turned upon him? Suddenly advancing to- 
wards her, he sank upon the ground and extended his arms as 
if to embrace her knees in entreaty. The green light from 
(he lamp fell full upon the marble regularity of his features, 
upon the white spot in the midst of the dark masses of his 
hair. A phantom finger seemed to Liana to point to that spot 
as to the mark of Cain. She recoiled, wildly repulsing with 
her beautiful hands the kneeling man. “ Forger !” she gasped. 
“I would sooner drown in the depths of the sea than let youi 
fingers touch even the skirts of my dress.” With her hands 
tightly clasped upon her breast, she crouched together like 
a child that fears some terrible contact and yet cannot stir 
from the spot. She could not go while the paper was in his 
possession. She had recklessly betrayed her knowledge of his 
crime. 

The priest slowly arose. In the sudden breathless silence, 
the noise of approaching wheels was heard, and instantly after- 
wards the trampling of the chestnuts upon the gravel. Mai- 
na'i had already returned; he must have driven furiously. 
At the sound the court chaplain stamped his foot impatiently, 
and turned his head towards the window in an access of anger. 

Liana drew a long breath ; not a moment was to be lost. 

I must entreat your reverence to put that paper again in its 
place,” she said, vainly endeavouring to give firmness to her 
voice. 

0 


18 * 


210 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


Can you suppose that I for one moment cont,emplate an act 
of such good-humoured folly, madame ?” he asked, with a hoarse 
laugh. “You think, then, that your mortally wounded victim 
has no longer the power to defend himself. Oh, I am still able 
to think. I know what you contemplate. You come here and 
gain possession of this secret; then, with your microscope in 
your hand, you prove to your husband and the Hofmarschall 
that a terrible fraud has been perpetrated at Schonwerth, in- 
volving a false heirship. Of course you cannot be permitted 
to carry such a secret to Rudisdorf, and they will entreat you 
to remain here. But what will you gain? Baron Mainau 
does not love you; he never will love you, fair lady; his 
heart is given to the duchess, and to her only. Now he is 
indifferent to you, but after the discovery he will hate 
you. And I. ^see how self-forgetting is love, — I will pre- 
vent that.” 

Before she could understand what he intended, he had taken 
the Countess Trachenberg’s pink note from the drawer and 
walked to the fire. It was of no avail that she flew to him 
with a cry, and tried to arrest his hand, that she clasped the 
arm of the man she had never thought to touch ; both paper 
and note were thrown into the flames and shrivelled there to 
ashes. 

“Now accuse me, madame. In the search for the paper, 
the Countess Trachenberg’s note will also be missed, and 1 
shall scarcely be suspected of burning that.” He still stood 
before the fire, as if to defend it from Liana’s approach, al- 
though not even the charred remnants of the paper could be 
seen. 

The young wife dropped her hands by her sides. The 
light, as it shone upon her face, revealed the utter hope- 
lessness of its expression. That strong but innocent virgin 
soul was no match for the wily priest, and as she stood there 
like a flower, delicate, tender, helpless, her terrified eyes gazing 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


211 


into the flame, her head near the priest’s shoulder, it seemed 
as if by one energetic movement he might have snatched her 
to him. She was as if paralyzed. One trembling sigh escaped 
her lips ; the priest felt its breath. 

“Madame, there is still time,” he cried, his face pale as 
marble. “ Be gentle and pitiful to me, and I will go on the 
spot to the lords of Schbnwerth and confess.” 

She stepped back proudly, and her glance was keen and 
haughty. “That is your own affair; act as you think fit,” 
she said, in a cold, annihilating voice. “ I sincerely wished 
to save Gabriel ; I would have gone upon my knees to tho 
duchess to attain this end ; but I can own no fellowship with 
a Jesuit. I can no longer help the boy; he must fulfil his 
cruel destiny. Ah ! Germany is right in expelling fiom her 
soil these arch-foes to patriotism, to spiritual development, 
and to the harmony of sects. These are my last words to 
your reverence. Now go and spin your mesh of intrigue 
with regard to the letter of the Countess Trachenberg, deli 
cately but surely, like a true disciple of Loyola.” 

She turned away, and was about to leave the room, when a 
side-door was opened, and the Hofmarschall, leaning upon his 
stick, looked in. 

“'What are you doing, my dear friend?” he cried, as his 
eyes sought to penetrate the depths of the apartment 
“Heavens! does it take so long to turn a key in a lock?” 

At sight of him Liana stood still and looked him full in 
the face, while the court chaplain remained in his place upon 
the hearth, holding his hands out to the flame as if he were 
cold. 

The Hofinarschall hobbled in, forgetting to close the door 
behind him, he was so struck by the attitude of the occupants 
of the room. 

“Ah, madame, are you here also?” he said, propping him- 
self upon his crutch-handled cane. “ Or — ^you cannot possibly 


212 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


have been here ever since ; you are too fond of employing everj 
moment industriously.” 

Suddenly, as if struck by a sudden suspicion, he turned his 
head towards the cabinet; the fatal drawer was pulled out tc 
its utmost extent. 

A long-drawn “A — ^h!” came from the old man’s lips. 
'•‘What, madame, have you been meddling?” he asked, with a 
aruel smile, almost gently, like some examiner who has just 
«een the last point of defence fail the accused man before him. 
He shook his head thoughtfully. “ Impossible ! What did I 
say ? Those beautiful, aristocratic hands, whose mistress is so 
happy as to know herself the grand-daughter of a princess of 
I’hurgau — those high-born hands, I say, never could conde- 
scend so far as to meddle with the property of others — -Ji done ! 
I beg pardon, madame. It was an unseemly jest.” 

He hobbled to the cabinet, looked into the drawer, and be- 
gan to search among the papers. 

Liana clasped her hands upon her breast — a fearful moment 
was at hand. The man in the long black coat still gazed 
steadily into the fire, as if he had not heard one word that 
wa*] spoken behind him ; doubtless . his campaign was all 
planned. 

The Hofmarschall turned round. “You, too, have been 
Resting, madame,” he cried, with a short laugh. “ You wanted 
to play me a little trick. It was no more than reasonable. I 
was a little indiscreet before her highness the duchess to-day. 
E will be more prudent in future, I promise you. And now 
pray, pray return me my charming billet-doux, dear to my 
heart as you know it is. What ! you refuse ? I could almost 
swear I see a little pink corner peeping from your pocket at 
this moment. No ? Where is the Countess of Trachenberg’s 
latter, I say?” he added, suddenly changing his tone to one of 
harsh, angry command, and in his irritation so far forgetting 
himself as to raise his cane with an air of menace. 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


213 


“ Ask his reverence,” Liana replied, all the colour forsaking 
her cheeks. 

“ His reverence? Is the Countess Trachenberg his mother? , 
flm ! yes, perhaps he has been a witness of the deed, and you 
now appeal to his chivalric courtesy, his Christian gentleness, 
for succour ; but it can avail you nothing, madame. I must 
hear from your lips where the letter is.” 

The young wife pointed to the chimney-place. “ It is burned, ’ ’ 
she said, in a firm but unmelodious voice. At that moment 
the court chaplain turned his head slightly for the first time, 
with a half-dismayed, half-despairing glance at the speaker, 
who never dreamed of availing herself of the only weapon at 
hand, — ^falsehood. 

The Hofmarschall uttered an exclamation of anger, and, 
unable to stand any longer, sank into the nearest arm- 
chair. 

“And you saw it done, your reverence? You quietly al- 
lowed this infamous deed to be perpetrated?” he muttered, 
between his teeth. 

“ I cannot answer you at this moment, Herr Hofmarschall ; 
you must first be more composed. The matter is very differ- 
ent from what you suppose,” the court chaplain replied, 
evasively. He turned from the fire and advanced slowly 
towards the old man. 

“It needed but this, — ^that you should go over to her. Will 
that heretical spirit beneath those red braids turn the heads of 

all the men? I long since began to mistrust Kaoul ” He 

bit his lips ; the last words had evidently escaped him invol • 
untarily ; but their effect upon the court chaplain was that of 
an unexpected blow. With a glance of angry terror towards 
the listener, he hastily raised his hand as if to lay it upon the 
old man’s thoughtless lips. 

“I do not understand you, Herr Hofmarschall,” he said 
emphasizing every word in a menacing tone. 


214 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


“ Good heavens ! I meant with regard to his faith \n Cathol 
icism,” the Hofmarschall replied, peevishly. 

The man whose faith was jnst now under discussion was at 
that moment ascending the broad steps covered with Byzantine 
carpet in the hall. Liana was standing directly opposite the 
open door of the salon. The brilliantly-lighted corridor led 
out to the staircase, which was also a sea of light. Mainau 
stood for one instant upon the topmost step, wrapped in his 
dark cloak. Did he see the light dress of his wife in the dim 
salon? He certainly had intended going to his own rooms, 
but he turned into the corridor towards this apartment. 

“Aha, here he comes! quite apropos!” said the Hof- 
marschall, evidently rejoiced to hear the quick, well-known 
step approaching. He sat upright in his chair, as if he snuffed 
the battle from afar, and rubbed his withered hands with a 
ehuckle. 

“Herr Hofmarschall, I must entreat you to be silent at 
present,” the court chaplain said, in a strange, peremptory 
whisper, in which, in spite of himself, there was a shade of 
terror. 

Mainau, however, was already upon the threshold. “ Will 
your reverence allow me to hear it ?” he asked ; his sharp^ suspi- 
cious ear had caught the whisper. His flaming glance sought 
the face of his young wife. “ A secret, then — a secret between 
his reverence and — my wife, which you must not betray, 
uncle,” he added, with slow emphasis. “ I must confess, it 
sounds very interesting. A secret between a strict Catholic 
priest and a ‘ heretic’ — ^how piquant ! Do I not guess aright, 
uncle? ‘ An interesting attempt at conversion?” 

“ Not a bit of it, Raoul. Our court chaplain is far too wise 
not to see that it would be a waste of breath. Madame is not 
even Protestant. No, my friend, the secret is her own, and 
his reverence, who chanced to discover it, is too chivalric and 
courteous to consent to compromise her. And I, too, would 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


215 


have held my tong-ae — good heavens ! if one is not a gentle- 
man one is nothing; but what excuse can I give you? My 
old head has grown too stupid to invent a story quickly enough, 
and ” 

“To the point, uncle!” cried Mainau, in a hard, strained 
voice, his face showing his agitation of mind. 

“Oh, very well; it is soon told. You left the key in the 
drawer of the cabinet that contained the Countess of Tracheu- 
berg’s letter. I must confess to having teased madame almost 
too much with the interesting little memorial, and she probabl}! 
thought it had better disappear some fine day. She was alone 
here in the salon, and made use of the favourable chance to 
throw my little treasure, my pretty pink note, into the fire, — eh, 
what do you think of it? Unfortunately, I missed the key a 
few moments before. His reverence kindly offered to get it 
for me, and was thus an involuntary witness of the auto-da-fS. 
When I, wondering at his protracted absence, suddenly entered 
the room, he was standing by the fire in evident agitation, and 
the Frau Baroness was making a too tardy attempt to escape. 
Look I the open drawer tells the tale.” 

The young wife, who saw the coming storm about to 
break upon her head, now took from her lips the handkerchief 
she had held pressed to them, and advanced one step towards 
her husband, her face pale as ashes. 

“No need, Juliana!” he said, cold as ice, recoiling, and 
raising his right hand, as if to command silence. “ My uncle 
judges from his prejudiced point of view. You never touched 
the paper. I know it, and let no one dare to repeat so vile an 
accusation ! But I must express my surprise at finding you 
here at this time ” 

“Aha! we start, then, from the same point,” said the Hof- 
marschall, with a short laugh. 

“ It will not be the hour for tea for some time yet,” Mainau 
continued, without heeding the interruption. “You cannot 


216 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


have been embroidering by this dim light, and there is neithe 
work-basket nor book to be seen. Moreover, you are always 
the first to withdraw from this room and the last to appear in 
it. I repeat that all these causes combine to make your pres- 
ence here a riddle to me, and I can only explain it thus : You 
have been requested to come hither at a certain time, and — 
you have complied, Juliana; the bird has flown into the snare, 
and it is lost beyond hope of rescue. You are given over to 
the hand which, of course without your consent, probably in 
spite of your entreaty, did you the kindness to burn the com- 
promising note. You are not yet fallen, but you are lost. 
Why did you come ?” 

“What do you mean, Raoul? What nonsense are you 
talking?” the Hofinarschall cried, in amazement. 

Hainan’s bitter laugh rang through the room. “ His 
reverence will explain it to you, uncle. He has long been 
netting such fat fish for his Church, that it is small wonder 
if he wants to appropriate one pretty slender gold-fish for 
himself. Your holy order, your reverence, has of late 
years repudiated its oft-quoted motto, ‘ the end sanctifies the 
means;’ but it is still a watchword, and I congratulate you 
upon your skill in turning it to account in your own private 
interests. Or are those lovely lips really destined only to tell 
the beads of a rosary ?” 

“I must confess, I do not know what you mean, Herr 
Baron,” the court chaplain replied, calmly. He had found 
time to assume all his imposing dignity of tone and carriage, 
although the gleam in his eyes hardly told of composure of 
mind. 

“Nonsense! I cannot in the least understand what you 
would be at, Raoul,” said the old man, moving uneasily in his 
chair. 

“But I know, Mainau,” murmured Liana, as if crushed; 
and then she raised her arms involuntarily above her head. 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


217 


as if to ward off the destruction invoked by the con- 
fession. 

“ What a farce !” the Hofmarschall said, in his grating voice, 
indignantly turning his head aside; but the court chaplain 
stood before him with a warning gesture. 

“ Do not transgress further, Herr Hofmarschall,” he said, 
Sternly and peremptorily. “This poor tormented woman is 
under my protection, and I will not suffer the heavenly purity 
of her soul ” 

“Not one word more, your reverence!” Liana cried, indig- 
nantly, with flashing eyes. “You know how with ‘ one turn 
of my head I can assert my position above the common herd, 
whose place is in the dust.’ You know that Hew in whose 
veins flows royal blood are so haughty as I,’ — your own words 
of a few moments ago. And yet you dare, unasked, to stand 
forth as my champion ? Do you not know that the Countess 
Trachenberg resents and repels such insolence ? There, Herr 
Hofmarschall, stands the actor, the hypocrite.” She waved 
her hand towards the priest. “Inquire of him. Let him 
give you such an account of what took place here as suits both 
himself and you. For myself, it would be a waste of words 
to open my lips to you in self-defence.” 

She turned hastily away, but paused before her husband, 
They stood face to face. “lam going, Mainau,” she said ; but 
in place of the decision and energy with which she had just been 
speaking, there was now a kind of sob in her voice. “ A few 
days ago I could have left Schbnwerth without wasting one 
word upon you in vindication of my honour. To-day it is 
different; the knowledge you have granted me of your mind 
brings me nearer to you. I hold your powers in high esteem, 
although this moment tells me, to my sorrow, how blinded and 
weak they may become, how false are your views of human 
natuTe, that make it impossible for you to have faith in others’ 
abhorrence of sin. I myself can indeed neither tell you noi 
K 19 


218 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


write you the true account of this matter ; but I have a brothe? 
and a sister: you shall hear from me through them.” 

She walked through the room into the corridor. 

“For God’s sake, Raoul,” exclaimed the Hofmarschall, “let 
there be no scandal ! You will not believe that arrant plotter? 
I conjure you by your father’s memory not to be influenced 
to mistrust the tried and faithful friend of our family. Oh 
heavens !” And he turned to the priest. “ My dearest friend, 
take me away — quick ! — ^to my own room ! I am very ill.” 
And Liana heard his voice rise almost to a shriek. 

He was almost worthy of his brother actor. This feigned 
attack of illness was the cloak beneath the sheltering folds 
of which he withdrew his friend and confidant from the effects 
of his nephew’s anger. 


CHAPTER XXL 

With a bitter smile, and struggling against her tears. Liana 
descended the stairs. The three whom she left behind her 
might find their intercourse constrained and formal for a few 
days, but time and conventionality would smooth away all 
such results of the last hour ; the earth would close above the 
victim that had plunged into the gulf between them, and who 
then would bestow one thought upon the divorced wife? In 
the aristocratic world the grass grows quickly over such dis^ 
agreeable experiences. 

The lamps were burning before the tall mirror in her dress- 
ing-room. Hanna had evidently supposed that her mistress 
would wish to change her light summer dress for something 
warmer, the weather had grown so cold and damp. A fire 
was lighted in the chimney, and threw its cheerful glare upov 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


219 


the carpet and furniture of the room which she had learned 
to feel was her own special domain, her home, and where she 
now looked around her for the last time before leaving it. 
She sent her maid away, and bolted the door of the blue 
boudoir behind her. 

The window-shutters were already closed, with the excep- 
tion of those in the boudoir. These she always attended to 
herself, for fear lest the lovely azalias might be injured if 
approached by less gentle hands. The rain was still pouring 
in torrents from the gloomy skies. The air came sweeping 
in, heavy with damp, to dim the lustre of the glittering 
satin. The wind moaned in sudden gusts, and the ^olian 
harps, now swept by the blast and now silenced by the rain, 
sent forth fitful wails to die away among the trees of the 
garden. 

Liana stood for a moment at the open window. She 
shivered involuntarily; she must go out into this gloomy, 
stormy night on foot. She would leave Schbnwerth so quietly, 
so noiselessly, that no one should know precisely when she had 
departed. She would not remain a single night beneath the 
roof of him who had believed her capable of infidelity, — ^who 
had declared that she was lost. Such dishonouring accusations 
had been heaped upon her, so cunningly had the court chaplain 
robbed her of all means of defence, that only a woman well 
versed in wUes and intrigue could prove herself a match for 
the false priest. The purity and truth of Liana’s nature 
made her helpless here ; there was no refuge for her but to 
flee to her brother and sister and place her defence in their 
hands. 

She closed the window and pulled down the shade. Sud- 
denly hasty steps were heard in the antechamber, and an 
impatient hand lifted the latch of her door: it was bolted. 
Liana pressed her hand upon her wildly-beating heart. Hai- 
nan stood without, desiring admittance; but not for worlds 


220 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


would she encounter him again. His own words had m^de 
any approach to him on her part impossible. 

He knocked hurriedly. “Open,' Juliana!” he cried, per- 
emptorily. 

She stood as if changed to stone ; not a finger moved. Her 
«iyes glanced downwards at her dress, in fear lest the rustle of 
tt fold should betray her presence. 

Twice he repeated his call to her, and rattled at the door ; 
then she heard him retreat, and the folding-doors into the 
pillared corridor flung open ; they were not closed behind him ; 
he had evidently departed excessively angry. 

With a sigh, she went back to her dressing-room. Why 
was she weeping? She was ashamed of her tears. Is there 
upon Grod’s earth a thing more mysterious, more inconsistent, 
than a woman’s heart? Liana’s seemed now on the point of 
breaking in mute agony. She hid her face in her hands. The 
time for self-deception was past. Had he entered now, she 
was weak enough to tell him, “ I am going, it is true, but I 
know that I shall never forget you.” What a triumph for 
him! No woman could resist him, then! Even the ill-used girl 
whom he had snatched from her home for the sake of revenge 
upon a woman whom he still fondly loved, — this girl, in inter- 
course with whom he had sheltered himself in a reserve that 
forbade all approach on her part, — the wife who bore his name 
indeed, but who occupied only the position of a governess in his 
house, could throw aside her pride, her womanly dignity, and 
say to him, “I shall never forget you.” No; thank God, he 
was gone ! He would never know of this conquest. A strange, 
hard expression lent itself to her closed lips. In imagination 
she saw the chestnuts halting at the portal of the palace, and 
their bold driver conducting within-doors the proudest lady in 
the land. Perhaps that homeward drive had been decisive fcT 
both. The young wife was now suspicious and embittered 
enough to suspect that Mainau’s accusing words had been but 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


221 


a pretext to hurry forward a separation. But, good heavens 1 
why ponder it thus? It could not be love that she felt for 
him. Her Trachenberg pride would prevent that. It was 
only that she could not forbear at present the desire to possess 
his friendship ; once at home again, she should soon learn to 
overcome all this. 

She opened the jewel-box and compared its contents with 
her list, and then counted over the money in the drawer of 
the writing-table ; she had never touched it. Then she sealed 
up both keys in an envelope, addressed it to Mainau, and left 
it upon the table. Those things which she did not wish 
touched by stranger-hands she packed in a little trunk ; every- 
thing else she left to be sent after her by her maid. 

Nearly two hours were consumed in these preparations. 
She raised the shade in the window of the blue boudoir and 
looked out ; it had grown quite dark, and the light of the 
lamp behind her was reflected from the pools of water col- 
lected upon the gravel-path in front of the window, and showed 
them in tremulous motion with the steadily-falling rain. It 
had abated somewhat ; but the wind caine howling around the 
corner as if it had lost its way among the numberless court? 
and arcades of the huge castle and were now rushing forth 
with a savage sense of renewed freedom over the flelds and 
gardens. 

It was time to go. Liana exchanged her light dress for 
one dark..r in hue, put on a black cloak, and drew the hood 
of it over her head. Weeping bitterly, she went into Leo’s 
little room and laid her cheek upon the pillow beside which 
she had so often sat watching until her darling’s eyes should 
close in the soft sleep of childhood. He was with his grand- 
father, never dreaming of the tears that were falling upon his 
pillow, or that she to whom his heart clung with boyish 
adoration was about to have the castle in the night an:3 storm, 
never tc return. 


19 * 


222 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


The young wife went back to the blue boudoir and noise- 
lessly unbolted the door ; but, as she opened it, she started 
back, dazzled and confused. She had supposed she should 
find the anteroom perfectly dark; the huge chandelier hang 
ing from the ceiling was lighted, and the folding-doors oppo- 
site her admitted the full blaze of the gas-jets in the pillared 
corridor. She did not advance a step ; breathless with terror, 
she stood still, bathed in light, her pale, delicate face looking al- 
most unearthly in its beauty from the black velvet hood of her 
cloak ; but the hard lines that had but a little while before 
appeared about her mouth were again sharply defined, while 
the steel-gray eyes, half defiant, half amazed, sought the recess 
of the window, where Mainau stood with folded arms. 

“ You have kept me waiting some time, Juliana,” he said, 
almost monotonously, as if the question were of some delay 
in an appointment for the theatre or a concert. Then he 
stepped to the folding-doors and closed them, making it evi- 
dent that they had been thus wide open that he might over- 
look the whole length of the corridor in case his wife should 
attempt to leave her apartments by the door of her dressing- 
room. 

“You are going to walk?” He asked this in the dreaded 
tone of sarcasm ; but his eyes gleamed strangely. 

“As you see,” she replied, coldly, turning aside that he 
might not bar her way to the door. 

“ Rather a strange idea in such weather. Do you hear the 
wind ? You will hardly be able to reach the first circle of 
lawn in the garden. The paths are under water. I warn 
you, Juliana, that this whim will cost you a cold and rheu- 
matism.” 

“Why this farce?” she asked, with perfect composure. 
“ You know perfectly well that this is no ‘ whim’ of mine, 
r told you up-ptairs that I was going, and you see me on my 
Way.” 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


223 


“Indeed? You are going just as you are, in a velvet 
eloak, and with an umbrella, to walk to Eudisdorf ?” 

She smiled faintly. “ Only as far as the capital ; the train 
starts “^hence at ten o’clock.” 

“ Oh, indeed ! A charming plan 1 The Schonwerth stables 
are full of horses, and there is a long row of comfortable and 
handsome carriages in the carriage-houses ; but the baroness 
prefers to leave the house on foot, because ” 

“At the moment when I left the salon, resolved to go to* 
night, I ceased to be one of this family, or to own the right 
to avail myself of ” 

“Because,” he continued his sentence in a slightly-raised 
voice, without heeding the interruption, “ it would be such a 
heart-breaking, tragic piece of news to circulate in the capital to- 
morrow morning. Poor young Frau von Mainau ! They used 
her so ill in Schonwerth that she fled thence in the night, and 
just at the edge of the forest was dashed by the wind against the 
trunks of the trees and hurled senseless to the ground. There 
she lay, her pale, patient face and magniflcent golden braids 
stained with blood.” He stepped before her, for, with an indig- 
nant exclamation, she made a fresh attempt to leave the room. 

“What incredible simplicity, Juliana, you combine with 
your strong, ripe intellect and clear comprehension !” he con- 
tinued, all trace of sarcasm vanishing from his face and voice. 
“ You think like a man, and suddenly act like a frightened 
child. When it comes to speaking the truth or serving others, 
you are a heroine, and your tongue is like an arrow; but 
when you should justify yourself, you hide your head like 
the ostrich. You know yourself innocent, and yet you flee. 
Do you not know that such a step would enlist the world 
against you? A woman who leaves her husband’s house, 
never to return, at night in a storm, alone, is and always must 
be a fugitive. It sounds offensive and insulting to your scnsi 
bility, I know, but I cannot spare you.” 


224 


THV. SECOND WIFE. 


He put his hand upon hers, which already rested upon the 
door-handle ; but her fingers closed tightly upon it, and he 
could not draw them thence without force. The expression 
of his face told her that he was sternly restraining a wild 
outbreak of anger; nevertheless she said, quietly, “Do not 
forget that I said farewell to you, and told you of my contem- 
plated departure, before two witnesses ; there can be no talk of 
Day leaving your house as a ‘fugitive.’ And if evil tongues 
defame me, let them. Grood heavens! of what consequence 
am I in the world? I am not vain enough to suppose it 
would trouble itself about me long, — it cannot, for I shall 
vanish from the scene. And now, I beg of you, let me go. 
I do not bid you farewell again. We are neither of us senti- 
mental.” 

“ No, — only I, oddly enough, am conscious of an obstinate, 
ctupid something within me that cries aloud.” He stepped 
back from the door. “You can go, Juliana, — that is, we can 
both go. You cannot suppose that I shall let you go alone to 
a judge partial already to the plaintiff? You wish to put 
your case against me in your brother’s and sister’s hands : so 
be it, — but I will go also. I will order the carriage, for I will 
accompany you. Ulrika, the calm, the wise, shall judge be- 
tween us.” 

“Mainau, you would not venture ” she cried, in terror; 

and as she started her hood fell back and her loosened hair 
escaped to lie in heavy golden rings upon the black velvet. She 
clasped her hands. “ I have suffered much beneath your roof, 
and yet I would not have you exposed to Ulrika’s keen judicial 
scrutiny. I could not bear it. What will you answer when 
she asks you why you sought her sister’s hand? You will 
have to tell her, ‘ That I might be revenged upon another. I 
was betrothed to the Countess Trachenberg that I might, in 
the presence of the whole court, inflict a deadly wound upon 
the duchess.’ ” 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


225 


He stood before her pale as ashes. Slowly and mechanically 
he raised his right hand and thrust it into the breast of his 
coat. His silence and this attitude made his aspect that of a 
man who knows well that he is lost, and awaits the crisis with 
assumed calm. “ And what then, Mainau ?” she went on, in- 
exorably. “You will be obliged to continue, ‘Therefore 1 
heaped the unfortunate plaintiff, of whom etiquette unhappily 
did not permit me to rid myself immediately, with jewels ai d 
costly stuffs, carried her to my home, and, as if I were wind- 
ing a clock, prescribed her life for her, requiring her to perform 
its duties with monotonous regularity. I knew that the head 
of my house was a sick, embittered old man. I knew that he 
would make the life I had prescribed for her a gigantic task, 
requiring unexampled self-renunciation, and an entire absence 
of nervous sensibility, or pride that could be wounded. Oh, all 
this must of course be expected of the doll who bore my name, 
ate at my table, and dwelt beneath my roof’ ” She paused, 
out of breath, and, with parted lips, lifted her head, as if freed 
from an incredible burden, delivered from the burning pain 
that had for so many weeks choked her utterance and made 
her heart like lead. 

“ Have you finished, Juliana ? And will you permit me to 
answer Ulrika?” he asked, in a voice that was exquisitely low 
and gentle. Was it the same that had hitherto made women 
“tremble like lambs”? 

“Not yet,” the young wife said, harshly. She had sipped 
of revenge for the first time in her life, and found it sweet tc 
retaliate, to give scorn for scorn ; she must have more of the 
intoxicating poison ; she never dreamed that this very thirst 
for revenge revealed the existence of another passion,, profound 
although hopeless. “ This poor automaton, with hands eter- 
nally busy with embroidery, and lips with which to teach 
verbs, was, with all good intentions, so posith ely destitute of 
tact that she never shortened, as she should have done, Kei 


226 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


Btay at Castle Schbnwerth. Slie missed the moment when siie 
might have withdrawn with dignity, and recourse was necei- 
sarily had to the roughest means, to dishonouring accusations, 
in order to be rid of her.” 

“ Juliana !” He leaned towards her and gazed into her eyes, 
which met his own in all the brilliancy of fearful nervous agita- 
tion. “ How melancholy, that your clear sense should stray so 
hopelessly ! But it is my fault ; I have left you too much alone. 
I cannot answer that to Ulrika, whatever else I may say. Ju- 
liana, do not look at me so fixedly !” he entreated, taking both 
her hands in his. “ This fearful agitation will make you ill.” 

“ Then leave me. You cannot endure the sight of illness.” 
She drew away her hands. Her lips quivered painfully. 

He seemed fairly discouraged. Turn wherever he might, 
she cruelly held before him a mirror, from which the ugly 
traits of his character stared him in the face. She had care- 
fully treasured every one of his heartless remarks. He was 
so brilliant a talker, — there was no time when he was at a 
loss in society, no gulf that he could not there bridge 
over with brilliant sarcasm or light persifiage ; but here, with 
this upright feminine nature, which by his own fault had be- 
come hard and pitiless, the accomplished man of the world 
suffered woeful shipwreck. He silently put out his hand to 
the bell-rope, but Liana prevented his ringing. “ Do not ring, 
Mainau! I will not go with you,” she declared, with grave 
decision. “ Why carry such ugly discord to Budisdorf ? I 
could not so distress my dear, reserved Magnus. He would 
suffer too much. And my mother? I shall have a weary 
struggle with her — I do not disguise the fact from myself; but 
I would far rather endure it alone than have you present. 
She will instantly take your part. I shall be the guilty one 
in her eyes. You are the petted, envied Lord of Schbnwerth, 
Wolkershausen, etc., and I am a poor girl, with no claim upon 
ftDvbo-ly; who but would say that I have not known how to 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


227 


adapt myself to circumstances, or how to appreciate my ad 
vantages?” What a heart-breaking smile hovered about her 
lips! ‘‘And upon this very account, mamma will do all that 
she can to prevent our entire separation ; and we must both 
guard against this ” 

“Indeed, Juliana?” He laughed angrily. “If it were 
not repugnant to me peremptorily and harshly to require what 
will never be given willingly, I think I could not do better 
than place the matter in your mother’s hands ; but Ulrika 
shall be our judge. I will not deny one iota of my great 
transgression. I will tell her how the royal jilt played with 
me, and by her falsehood made me what I am, a frivolous 
mocker, with a reckless contempt for women, a man who, in 
the humiliation of his wounded pride, sought distraction in a 
wild life of unworthy dissipation. Ulrika shall know that;, 
although I had long ceased to cherish the faintest spark of 
affection for the heartless coquette, I did thirst for some re- 
taliation. Perhaps she can comprehend better than you the 
depths of a man’s nature. I will tell her, ‘ Ulrika, it is true 
that I married your sister to punish the duchess and to 
appease my desire for revenge ; but I longed, besides, to put 
a stop to that woman’s manifestations of an insane passion 
that disgusted me.’ ” 

He paused for a moment, as if in hopes of some word of 
encouragement ; but his wife’s lips did not move. These 
revelations seemed to be turning her to marble. 

“ ‘ The young girl, whom I scarcely looked at upon our first 
interview, was entirely indifferent to me,’ ” he continued, in a 
voice full of emotion. “ ‘ Had I then received any impression 
of beauty or of wit, I should have instantly withdrawn. I 
did not wish to fetter my inclinations again. I was in search 
of a gentle feminine character who would patiently take charge 
of my whimsical old uncle and my boy and be content with 
her position as mistress of my household. I was a cruel 


228 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


<igotist. A desire for travel awoke afresh within me ; I longed 
for adventures of all kinds, for the society of pretty, piquant 
women. I was stricken with blindness. The white rose of 
Rudisdorf on our marriage-day showed me a sharp thorn that 
startled me. I encountered indomitable pride. But she was 
wise, and my superior in keenness of intellect ; she understood 
how to veil her beauty of person as well as her cultivated mind 
in the nun-like habit of strict reserve. It never occurred to her 
to lift a finger to woo to her the man who had depreciated and 
misunderstood her. And thus I passed the days beneath the 
same roof with her, cold, disdainful, overlooking her, but 
now and then startled as by a sudden flash of lightning, until — 
I could laugh at the Nemesis if it were not so bitter — ^is it 
not pitiful, IJlrika, that the man who in his unpardonable 
blindness could say, “ Love I cannot give her,” now kneels 
before your sister and entreats her forgiveness? Is it not 
miserable that he should now beg and implore her for what he 
so senselessly threw away? She wishes to leave me; justly 
mistrusting me, she does not in the least understand me. 
A more experienced, expert eye than hers would have seen 
long since how matters stood with me, and would have kindly 
spared the ofiender the acknowledgment of his entire over- 
throw ; but she pursues her way undeterred, not dreaming of 
the pain she is inflicting, and there is nothing left for me 
except to say clearly and distinctly that I shall die, spiritually 
and mentally, if Juliana leaves me.’ ” 

When he began his confession, he walked to the window, 
and there he stood now. He had not since looked at his wife 
but now he turned towards her. She had covered her eyes with 
her right hand, while the other groped tremblingly for the 
arm-chair near her. She looked as if she were about to faint. 

“Shall the carriage be ordered?” he asked, approaching 
lier with breathless eagerness, his lips ashy white ; “ or will 
Juliana decide for herself?” 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


229 


She clasped her hands convulsively ; the ground seemed 
unsteady beneath her. 

“Yes or no. For God’s sake, put an end to this agony ! 
You will stay with me, Juliana ?” 

“ Yes.” The word came indeed like a trembling breath from 
her lips ; but it produced an absolutely intoxicating effect 
upon her husband. With an upward glance, as if suddenly 
relieved from an agony of torture, he clasped his wife in his 
arms ; then he loosened her cloak from around her and tossed 
it aside. 

He kissed her on the mouth. “ This is our betrothal, Ju- 
liana. I will woo you with the fondest affection,” he said, 
almost solemnly. “ Now, do with me what you will ; you 
shall have time and opportunity to prove yourself, — to discover 
whether you can learn to love him whom now, with all a 
woman’s gentle compassion, you forgive. Who would have 
dreamed six months ago that a woman would have swayed me 
thus ? Thank God, I am still young enough to steer my course 
anew and be happy ; and as I clasp you to me and you no 
longer repulse me, you are indeed my own, my Liana.” 

He led her into the blue boudoir. “ Heavens, what magic !” 
he cried. He gazed around him, and then his eyes rested in 
an intoxication of delight upon the lovely face of his young 
wife. “ Is this really the odious room, with its stifling fra- 
grance of jessamine and its cushions for indolence ?” 

A lamp with a pink shade was burning upon the table ; its 
rosy light faintly tinged the folds of satin. Mainau had been 
used to see this room brilliantly illuminated. Liana knew 
from Leo that his “ first mamma’s” rooms had always been a 
blaze of light. With her heart throbbing with a new-found 
ecstasy, she told herself that it was the dawn of coming hap- 
piness that transfigured everything suddenly for the man be- 
side her, It seemed to her as if a fairy light streamed 
from the white cups of the azalea#', in the dim recess ; she had 
20 


230 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


fostered and cherislied them while she was struggling and 
unhappy, and they could better divine her silent, shy delight 
than he who still believed himself unloved. 

“ And now my last and only question with regard to the 
past. Liana!” he said, clasping her hands in his and press- 
ng them passionately to his breast. “ You know now what 
nade me so harsh, so insanely unjust to you this evening in the 
salon ; you know that I never for one moment really believed 
in any fault of yours : else should I be here now ? The poi- 
sonous breath of that hateful priest never touched you, that 
I can swear ; and yet I cannot be content. Liana — I feel as if 
a hand were at my throat — when, in the midst of my present 
bliss, I think of that mysterious moment when I saw your 
terrified face in the dimly-lighted room and heard his voice 
enjoining silence upon my uncle. What took you to that 
room at so unwonted an hour?” 

In low tones, but clearly and distinctly, she told him every- 
thing. She described how, prompted thereto by Frau Lbhn’s 
hint, she had discovered the forgery. At the revelation of 
this vile fraud to which he had for years been an involuntary 
accomplice, Mainau stood like a statue, incapable of a single 
word. He had been shamefully duped, — the wily Jesuit had 
led him whither he pleased, and forced him to act according 
to his cunning will. And the poor boy whom that paper had 
branded and cast out as a bastard had been obliged to drag 
out what should have been the happy years of childhood, the 
victim of oppression, a mark for the contempt and scorn of 
all ; he had been crushed under foot and banished into the 
holes and corners of the castle that had belonged to the man 
whose only child he was. Liana read in Hainan’s face the 
indignation of his soul ; this was in truth a ghastly awaken- 
ing from the blindest confidence. 

She came to the moment when the court chaplain had 
thrown both paper and note into the fire. She m''destly 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


231 


a'voide'd soiling her lips by the repetition of his passionate 
entreaties and complaints. She merely hinted at the motive 
for his criminal act ; but Hainan could not control himself ; 
he left her side and walked restlessly to and fro in the apart- 
ment, then returned, and, clasping her close in his arms, ex- 
claimed, “ And I left you in the tiger’s claws while I drove 
that woman to her home !” 

She gently soothed and calmed him, and from this moment 
her mission as a faithful wife and companion began. Her 
gentle, melodious tones sounded doubly sweet in these apart- 
ments once the witnesses of matrimonial bickerings and dis 
putes. How shyly sweet and gentle was the aspect of this 
second wife here between these walls that had gazed upon 
that other capricious, spoiled creature, now nestled like a 
kitten among the satin cushions, dreaming away days in utter 
idleness, now fluttering about, pretty and graceful, but ready 
at a moment’s notice to trample flowers under her little feet, 
or even to chastise her maid with her own aristocratic hands ! 
Well might all this be present in Hainan’s mind, while he 
resigned himself to the magic of a new influence and grew 
calmer. 

“Lately I have had but one thought: to take you and 
Leo to Wolkershausen, and then to return hither to banish 
that unclean spirit from Schbnwerth forever,” he said, in a 
tone that bore evidence to his passionate indignation. “ Hy 
blood boils when I think of that scoundrel sitting at this 
moment, cherished and respected, in my uncle’s room, when 
by rights he should be thrust forth into the stormy night. 
And yet I must admit that an avenging blow from an honest 
man can avail nothing against these foxes ; it scatters them 
for a moment, but they return overwhelmingly, and the 
avenger is lost, although every law in the world be on his 
side. See, my darling, the first astounding effect of your 
influence. I will control myself; but this self-control shall 


232 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


cost the priest dear. An eye for an eye, and a tooth for & 
tooth, your reverence, I will slip on a fox’s skin for the sake 
of Uncle Gisbert, whose child I have so wronged. My uncle 
has been as entirely deceived as I, for all his keen, wise in- 
sight ; there is some small consolation for me in that.” His 
faith in the old man’s honour was impregnable. Liana trem- 
bled, for as soon as Gabriel was safe Frau Lbhn’s lips would 
be unsealed. What bitter revelations awaited him ! “ And if 
I were to inform him of the truth, he would simply laugh at 
me and require convincing proofs,” Mainau continued. “ I 
will reverse matters. Liana; hard as it will be for me, we 
must preserve for awhile our former attitude towards each 
other. Can you consent to resume your place to-morrow as 
if nothing had happened ?” 

“ I will try ; I am your faithful comrade still.” 

“ Oh, no ! that is all done with. The compact that we 
made that first day was long ago null and void, torn and scat- 
tered to the winds. Between good comrades there must al- 
ways exist a certain amount of forbearance. I have failed in 
it utterly ; I cannot practise it in the smallest degree. I am 
obliged to conquer a feeling of hostility towards even Leo 
when he says ‘ my mamma’ so self-sufficiently ; and I cannot 
hear you say ‘ Magnus’ or ‘ Ulrika’ without a positive feeling 
of envy. I think I never shall like those names. But oe 
assured I will watch over you, — no guardian angel could be 
more untiring. I will not leave you for a moment until 
the skies are clear of the bird of prey that hovers above my 
graceful doe.” 

The servants who, a few moments afterwards, met him in the 
passages of the castle, never dreamed that his lips, so firmly 
closed, were still thrilling with his betrothal kisses, and that 
the second wife whom they’ so pitied had just been made 
mistress of all he owned. And when the court chaplain, half 
an hour later, in spite of the wind and rain, walked around the 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


233 


castle, he saw Mainau’s shadow pass to and fro in his brightly- 
lighted library, while his young wife must be sitting at her 
writing-table in the room below. Those two people, then, had 
felt no need of a mutual explanation. His reverence, who, like 
some shy but persistent beast of prey, watched in hopes of one 
glimpse of that golden hair behind the flapping window-shutter, 
might arrange matters as he pleased. 


CHAPTER XXII. 

The wind, that increased to a hurricane during the even- 
ing, raged until midnight. But few of the castle inmates 
retired to rest. Fear was entertained lest even the mosaic 
tiles upon the castle roof should not resist the fury of the 
storm ; it was therefore not to be wondered at that the light 
bamboo roof of the Indian cottage was blown away entirely. 

The morning sky laughed blue and cloudless above the ill- 
used earth, and^the tossed trees again stood quiet and upright. 
They forgot their torn boughs and the old birds’-nests scattered 
upon the ground, and their leaves played gently with the light 
breeze, which was all that was left of the roaring monster of 
the previous evening. In the kitchen of the castle the servants 
were full of news, declaring that Lohn looked like a ghost. 
The tempest had been too much for her, bold and calm as 
she always seemed; she had spent the night in the Indian 
cottage ; the roof had been literally torn away above her head, 
and the stars had shone through great holes in the ceiling of 
the room. Their beams were all the light she had had there 
until dawn, for the wind had extinguished the lamps as soon 
as they were lit. And the mischief could not be repaired : it 
would make too much noise; the Indian woman was dying 
20 * 


234 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


The rigid Catholics among the servants were not at all sur- 
prised at the fearful tempest; it was always so when such un- 
baptized souls were sent to perdition. 

Liana, too, had waked until near morning — kept from sleep- 
ing not by the wind, but by the fever of her soul. What in- 
describable bliss it was to know herself beloved ! The little 
trunk had been instantly unpacked, and everything put back 
into the place which it was to occupy, as the second wife did 
hers in her husband’s heart. The two keys were taken from 
their envelope, — no one must know that she had thought of 
departure. Then she wrote to Ulrika a full account of all her 
woes and struggles, with their happy ending. 

The sleep which visited her near morning refreshed her 
much ; and when her maid drew aside her curtains and opened 
the window-shutters. Liana thought she never had seen the 
skies so crystal clear, or felt the morning air so balmily 
sweet, not even in E-udisdorf, where she had always spent the 
early morning with her brother and sister. She carefully 
selected a purple morning dress which Ulrika had declared 
became her well ; she wished so to please Mainau now. 

Leading Leo, as usual, by the hand, she entered the break- 
fast-room. She knew what humiliations she should have to 
endure from the Hofmarschall, for the evening before she had 
turned from him contemptuously, and here she was ready to 
hand him his morning chocolate. She set her teeth and sum- 
moned up all the stoicism of which she was mistress. What 
the court chaplain had invented for the old man’s ear on the 
previous evening to explain his own part in the matter of the 
burned note she had not the slightest idea. Hanna had 
brought Leo to her at nine o’clock. The boy had stayed un- 
til then in his grandfather’s room, and, from his childish prattle, 
it would seem that there had been no loud discussion between 
the two men, — they had played a game of chess together. 

As she ent3red the room she was reminded of her first 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


235 


morning in Schbnwerth. The Hofmarschall was sitting by 
the fire, and Frau Ldhn, who had apparently just entered, was 
standing at a little distance from him. Without noticing her 
clumsy curtsy, the old man propped both hands upon the 
arms of his chair, and, leaning slightly forward, half closed his 
eyes, as if he could scarcely trust them. 

“Why, here you are again, madame!” he exclaimed. “I 
thought last evening, when you left us so abruptly and an- 
nounced your intention of undertaking your long-contemplated 
visit to your home at such an unsuitable hour, that you would 
change your mind. In such a storm, too! You doubtless 
took into consideration, besides, that so sudden a departure 
from our roof would not look very well when it came to the 
legal separation, and might somewhat diminish the allowance 
made you. Oh, you are prudent enough, my little lady.’’ 

She was upon the point of leaving the room; her task was 
too hard. Where was Mainau? He had promised not to 
leave her alone. Leo noticed her hesitation ; the child could 
not understand the insults that had greeted her entrance, and, 
clasping her hand in both his own, he drew her farther into 
the room. 

“ That’s right, my boy,” the Hofmarschall said, with a laugh. 
“ Bring mamma to the breakfast-table and ask her for a cup 
of chocolate for grandpapa. He likes to have it from her 
hands, even although those beautiful hands have about them 
a faint odour of burnt paper. Well, Lohn,” and he turned 
to the housekeeper, as if to prevent all chance of any retort 
from the tortured young wife, “ is it true? They say the wind 
last night destroyed the roof of the Indian cottage.” 

“ Yes, Herr Baron; it is all swept away.” 

“And the ceiling is injured?” 

“ Full of holes; if it rains the room will be overflowed.” 

“Very provoking ! But nothing shall be replaced or mended 
IE the Indian garden ; the sooner that nonsense falls to pieces 


236 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


the better. See that the sick woman is taken into the little 
round pavilion.” 

Liana looked at the housekeeper. The servants were right 
m saying that the rough woman looked like a ghost. A deli- 
cate ear could detect that she added roughness and strength to 
her tone of voice to prevent it from breaking down. 

“ There is no need, Herr Baron. The woman will go her- 
self,” she replied to his order, and there was a peculiar rigidity 
in her expression. 

“How? — what? Are you mad?” The Hofmarschall 
turned suddenly, and for the first time since she had known 
him Liana saw his withered face fiush crimson. “Nonsense! 
Do you mean to tell me that she will ever be able to stand, or 
to use her paralyzed tongue?” 

“ No, Herr Baron. What is dead will always be dead, and 
the rest will be gone before sunset.” The woman spoke in a 
monotone, but what she said sounded agonized, heart-breaking. 

The Hofmarschall looked steadily into the fire. “ Ah I has it 
come to that ?” he muttered, in a low voice. 

Liana put the cup of chocolate which she was about to hand 
him upon the table again. She could not bring herself imme- 
diately to approach the murderous old man, whose withered 
lips quivered so strangely as he stared absently for a moment 
at the lean, crooked fingers that grasped his cane. Would the 
crushed lotos-blossom arise from her bed of torture once more 
before her death to point accusingly to the blue streaks about 
her delicate throat? He suddenly looked up, as if he felt the 
young wife’s eyes upon him; his own lost their absent look 
instantly and grew keen. “Well, madame, you see I am 
Waiting for my chocolate. Why did you set it down again? 
Because I looked a little thoughtful ? Ah, bah 1 I only 
thought I saw a little scrap of rose-coloured paper peeping 
out from the ashes in the corner of the chimney.” 

It was terrible. But deliverance was at hand. Liana heard 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


237 


Mainau’s step. He entered hastily. What a difference be- 
tween this morning and that other first one ! His glance did 
not pass her by as then, but, forgetting all prudence, sought 
her face, and rested there, as if it could not leave it. The old 
invalid in the arm-chair did not notice it, — he sat with his 
back to the door, — ^but Frau Lbhn suddenly looked amazed. 
She hastily smoothed out her starched white apron, and cast 
down her eyes. 

“You here already, Juliana?” Mainau asked, carelessly 
looking at his watch, as if he had mistaken the time. “ Here 
is why I was sent for, uncle.” He handed the Hofmarschall 
a card. “ A messenger from the duchess waits below for the 
answer to this invitation to a concert at court this evening. 
The duchess told me yesterday that her favorite prima donna 
was to pass through the capital and had declared her readiness 
to sing at court. It seems she has arrived a day earlier than 
she intended, and leaves to-morrow ; hence this sudden invita- 
tion. Shall you accept ?” 

“ Of course. I have been penned up here in Schbnwerth 
too long. You know I should attend upon the duchess if she 
required my presence, even although I had to crawl to the 
capital upon all-fours.” 

Mainau opened the door with an ironical smile, and gave 
the message to the mounted footman below in the court-yard 

“ This fete comes very apropos,” the Hofmarschall added. 
“ The mischief caused by the wind in the gardens last night 
annoys me, and there are all sorts of vexations besides. Lohn, 
there,” and he pointed his thumb over his shoulder towards 
the housekeeper, without turning his head, “ has just told me 
that the woman in the Indian house will die to-day. I am 
always out of sorts when there is a corpse upon the place. 
You know I had the footman who died here carried instantly 
to the dead-house in the capital. What shall we do in this 


238 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


“ I must say, uncle, your words sound brutal. They curdle 
my blood,” said Mainau, indignantly. “How can you discusa 
after this fashion a human being who still lives and breathes ? 
Have you sent for the doctor, Lbhn?” he asked the house- 
keeper, in a gentler tone. 

“No, Herr Baron. What good would it do? He cannot 
help her, and his remedies torment her. Her soul has already 
left the earth, or she would not gaze before her fixedly and 
unmoved when Gabriel weeps and laments so terribly ” 

“ For Heaven’s sake, let me have no more of that whining, 
Lohn!” exclaimed the Hofmarschall, much irritated. “If 
you knew how entirely unsuited it is to your rough voice, 
you would hold your tongue. It makes not the smallest dif- 
ference to me whether it curdles your blood or not, Baoul,” 
he said, with increasing agitation. “ In this case I must con- 
sider my own feelings. My horror is indescribable. I hate 
to inhale a mouthful of air even in such proximity. You will 
see I shall be mortally ill if you do not arrange that, as soon 
as the catastrophe has occurred, the remains are taken to their 
future resting-place, the churchyard in the capital.” 

I4ana understood the terror, the nameless horror, that was 
heard in his voice as well as seen in the nervous tremor of his 
frame. He had no fear of the spirit of the unhappy woman 
so long as it was fettered in its crippled earthly frame ; but 
now it was to escape, and, according to popular belief, hovei 
above its deserted tenement until ..nat was laid in the ground 
This must not be anywhere in his vicinity. 

“ The woman will rest in the vault beneath the obelisk,” 
said Mainau, very gravely. “ Uncle Gisbert brought her from 
her home, and she was the only woman whom he ever loved ; 
she belongs by right beside him, so let there be an end of 
this heartless talk.” 

“ She belongs by right beside him ?” the Hofmarschall re- 
peated, with a hoarse laugh. “ Dare to lay her there, Raoul, 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


239 


R^id you will learn what I am. I hate that woman, living or 
dead. She shall not lie beside him, although I should have 
to take my place between them.” 

What words were these ? Mainau looked in amazement at 
the old man whom he had thought, as he had told Liana, 
avaricious and arrogant, prone to petty malice, but possessed 
of a cold nature, not to be led astray by passion. What else 
was it but long-restrained, insane passion that now broke forth 
in his violent gestures and the gleam of his cunning eyes ? 

The Hofmarschall arose and went with a tolerably firm step 
to the nearest window. He passed close by Frau Lbhn, al- 
most brushing the dress of his secret but implacable enemy, 
but his eyes were directed towards the window; he did not 
look at her or dream that within her dwelt a spirit ever ready 
to dog his footsteps and scan his slightest act with suspicious 
hate. 

The morning air came in at the half-open window and 
stirred the carefully-brushed gray hair upon the old man’s 
brow, but he, who was usually afraia of the slightest draught, 
did not seem to feel it. 

“ I do not understand you, Raoul,” he said, struggling with 
his agitation. “ Would you disgrace my brother in his grave ?” 

“ If he considered it no disgrace to take the Hindoo girl to 

his heart and dedicate to her an idolatrous affection ” The 

Hofmarschall laughed shrilly. ‘‘ Uncle,” exclaimed Mainau, 
with a frown that compelled . che old man to self-control, “ I 
was never but once at Schonwerth during that time, but 1 
know that the stories then told me by the people in the castle 
made my heart throb feverishly. A man who guards the 
object of his passion with such careful tenderness ” In- 

voluntarily he paused, startled by the fire that darted from the 
old man’s eyes, usually so cold and calculating. Mainau did 
not suspect what memories he awakened. The seductive form 
of the unfortunate lotos-flower lay over there, with calm, fixed 


240 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


eyes, about to perish, to crumble to dust, and the man who, in 
his overweening tenderness, had once borne her in his arms 
through the gardens, lest her delicate feet should be profaned 
by contact with the ground, had long been sleeping beneath 
/;he obelisk ; but still the rejected man was a prey to furious 
jealousy. He still grudged to his dead brother the possession 
of the woman who had been the object of his own consuming 
passion. 

This ‘ careful tenderness,’ fortunately, did not last,” te 
said, hoarsely. “ Gisbert came to his senses in time, and he 
repudiated the ‘ lotos-flower’ as worthless.” 

“ Convincing proofs of that are wanting, uncle.” 

As if driven from the window by the hurricane of the pre- 
vious day, the withered, frail old man suddenly left the recess 
and stood before his nephew. 

“ Convincing proofs, Raoul ? They are to be found in the 
white salon, as you know, in the ‘ cabinet of curiosities,’ which 
was, unfortunately, ‘attempted’ yesterday. Surely it is not 
necessary to remind you that you examined the distinct, au- 
thoritative expression of Uncle Gisbert’ s will in your own 
hands yesterday afternoon ?” 

“ Is that paper the only document existing upon which you 
base your knowledge of his will ?” Mainau asked, briefly and 
sternly. The impertinent insult to Liana made him flush. 

“ The only one, of course. Raoul, how strange you are 1 
To what upon earth can any importance be attached, if not to 
the written desire of a dying man ?” 

“ Did you see him write it, uncle ?” 

“No, I did not ; I was ill myself. But I can bring you 
a witness who can swear that he saw every letter written. 
It is a pity he drove to town an hour ago. You have 
lately taken a most singular attitude with regard to our court 
chaplain ” 

Mainau laughed almost gaily. “ My dear uncle, I must 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


241 


reject such testimony as legal in any wise. I declare the 
document null and void and of no importance. Oh, yes, I 
am sure his reverence is ready to swear to it, — to swear by his 
soul’s welfare that he dipped the pen in the ink for the dying 
man. Why not ? There is always a side-door into heaven 
warranted to these Jesuits if they have forfeited their claim 
lo the grand entrance-gate. I blame myself for acting as no 
jonscientious man should have done. I was not present 
when my uncle died. As joint heir of his great wealth, I 
should have been doubly cautious, and not have sanctioned 
irrangements based solely upon written injunctions not legally 
witnessed. In such a case the law should interfere and 
decide.” 

“ Indeed !” The Hofmarschall nodded. He had grown 
ominously calm. Propping himself with both hands upon 
his crutch-handled cane, he fixed his sparkling eyes upon his 
nephew’s handsome face. “ Will you, then, have the kind- 
ness to point out to me the law that can be appealed to to 
protect the woman in the Indian cottage? She is free as air; 
she was not my brother’s lawful wife. If the ‘ law should 
decide,’ we might rightfully thrust her forth from our 
threshold, for there is no legally valid will in existence that 
insures her a crumb of bread or a shelter for the night at 
Schbnwerth. If we have not adhered to the law in the one 
case, we are not bound by it in the other.” 

“Is that logic, uncle? Does our not acting with fiendish 
hardness of heart in one respect justify us in according obedi- 
ence to the cruel injunctions of an illegal, unproven testament- 
ary document? And suppose that Uncle Gisbert really wrote 
that paper, repudiating the woman because Gabriel was not his 
child, what, I ask, gave him the right to decide upon the 
future of a boy who was no kin of his? I was a thoughtless 
young fellow when Uncle Gisbert died. What did I cait^ for 
t-ht. law or legal investigation? The story that the Indian girl 
Q 21 


242 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


ha ’ been faithless sufficed to make me mad and blind, for 1 
had loved my uncle sincerely. That is my only excuse. 
Afterwards the slavish, servile bearing of the boy strengthened 
me in my belief that there was not in his veins one drop of 
the proud, lordly blood of the Mainaus. I thrust him like a 
dog from my path, and acquiesced in his being a mcnk, as 
|uite fitting. I recall this acquiescence now, as a lamentable 
error on my part.” 

A breathless silence followed these last solemn words. Even 
Leo must have felt instinctively that the next moment there 
would be a breach in the house of Mainau, for, nestled close 
to Liana, he bent his head forward, and gazed with wide, 
troubled eyes into his father’s serious face. 

“Will you have the kindness to speak more distinctly? 
You know my brain is old ; it does not apprehend quickly — 
least of all what looks like modern innovation,” said the Hof- 
marschall. His meagre figure seemed to straighten into a 
kind of icy inaccessibility; for a moment he had no need of 
his cane, — excitement supported him. 

“With pleasure, my dear uncle. I say, briefly and clearly, 

Gabriel is to be neither a monk nor a missionary ” He 

paused, and walked towards the housekeeper. The robust, 
sturdy woman suddenly staggered, and seemed about to fall. 
Liana put her arm around her and led her to a seat. 

“Are you ill, Lbhn?” Mainau asked, kindly. 

“ God forbid, Herr Baron ! I never was so well in all m^ 
life,” she murmured, half laughing, half crying. “ Every 
thing swam before my eyes, and my stupid old head thoughk 
the skies were falling. Oh, Father in heaven above!” she 
sighed, covering her crimsoned face with her apron. 

The Hofmarschall cast a piercing glance at her. Amid all 
his agitation it did not escape him that the woman, a servant, 
was sitting in his presence, and that she did not rise even after 
she had declared lerself perfectly well. 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


243 


“Gabriel, then, is to be neither a monk nor a missionary?” 
he asked, scornfully, turning his head, that he might not see 
the housekeeper’s breach of decorum. “ May I ask to what 
lofty calling, then, you have dedicated this noble specimen of 
humanity?” 

“ Uncle, that tone has lost its effect upon me. I have, it is 
true, been weak enough to stand in dread of it, and to play 
iVe heartless mocker sooner than expose myself to ridicule as a 
sentimentalist. But I now turn my back upon those among 
whom the fear of ridicule reigns supreme. I am convinced 
that Gabriel is my cousin. If you, as his father’s chief heir, 
do not choose to give him a part of your immense inheritance, 
no one can force you to it, for Gabriel is not legitimate. Here 
I cannot appeal to the law to decide ; but from my own sense 
of what is right I shall, by adopting the boy, give him his 
father’s name and the means to maintain his rank.” 

The breach was made ; the deed was done. But the finished 
courtier, who could sustain his cause cleverly and acutely 
enough while there was a chance of victory, had learned to 
face an accomplished fact with perfect composure. 

“ One of two things is the case here,” he said, coldly : “ either 
you are ill,” — and he pointed to his forehead with a compas- 
sionate air, — “ or you are, as I have long suspected, entangled 
hopelessly in the meshes of those red braids — I believe tho 
latter, — to your ruin. I pity you, Eaoul. I know that specie? 
of woman ; thank God, it is rare. From their gleaming 
hair and white skin there streams phosphoric light like thal 
from mermaids’ bodies; with their cool breath they fan fiamtf 
which they never quench; mind enough, but no fervour of 
soul ; flowing phrases upon their lips, but no sweet madness 
of love, none of woman’s passionate devotion in their hearts I 
Your life will be a purgatory ; remember what I say. Look 
now, how pale you grow ” 

“It may well be so. — with irritation at ycur words. My 


244 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


ears, unfortunately, are not dulled ; and every one of youi 
words is like a blow. Must I remind you of your gray hair ?’' 

“ Do not trouble yourself. I know what I am doing and 
saying. I have warned you against my grandson’s stepmother 
And now take her to your heart, which never appreciated my 
Valerie, she who was the soul of fervid piety and loving de- 
votion. With regard to your new protigi , — I mean the boy in 
the Indian cottage — I have not a word to say. That is the 
Church’s affair. The boy, body and soul, is her special prop- 
erty. She will know how to answer you if you should venture 
to lay claim to him. Praise and glory to the Lord whom she 
serves. With His help she has always overthrown her foes, 
individuals as well as nations. You will be defeated, as are 
all those who would work her woe or make martyrs of her 
servants. We conquer in the end, and maintain our sway.” 

He turned his back upon Mainau to leave the room ; but, 
stamping his cane upon the floor, he suddenly stood still. 

“Well, Lbhn, are you sufficiently rested? Apparently you 
like your seat on your master’s cushioned chair !” he exclaimed. 

The housekeeper, who had followed every syllable of the 
foregoing war of words with eager interest and in entire self- 
forgetfulness, sprang up in terror. 

“Put my breakfast upon a waiter,” he commanded, nod- 
ding his head towards the table, “and bring it into my study. 
I wish to be alone.” 

He left the room. His cane sounded along the passage, and 
the noise was accompanied by the jingling of the housekeeper’^ 
keys and the rattle of the china upon the waiter whkih she 
carried after him. The old man’s soul was fllled with rage, 
and the woman who followed him with closed lips was trem 
bling with delight — and with hatred. She would have Uked 
to dash his chocolate at the feet of “ the sallow skeleton, who 
had said such infamous things of the dear, pur-Q angel ic th<» 
Vreakfast-room.’ 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


245 


As soon as the door closed behind the Hofmarschall and 
the housekeeper, Liana came hastily from the window-recess, 
where she had before taken refuge, and, going up to Mainau, 
seized his hand and carried it to her lips. 

“What are you doing. Liana?” he exclaimed, in sheer 
tmazement drawing away his hand. “You to me?” A 
xansfiguring expression of delight flitted across his face ; he 
extended his arms, and his wife, for the first time, voluntarily 
nestled close to his heart. 

Leo stood with his hands clasped behind him, quite pale 
with surprise. Keady as he usually was to express his opinion, 
this novel sight entirely deprived him of speech. Liana, with 
a smile, drew him towards her, and he threw his arms around 
her, half caressingly, half in jealous defiance of his father. 

“I shall have to send you both away from me to-morrow,” 
Mainau said, despondingly. “ After this scene with my uncle 
you cannot stay here. Liana. And I cannot leave Schbnwerth 
before the questions now opened are settled and the coming 
strife concluded.” 

“ I will stay with you, Mainau,” she said, firmly. She 
knew that terrible revelations awaited him. At such moments 
her place was by his side. “You speak of strife, and would 
have me leave you alone ? I can isolate myself here as easily 
as at Wolkershausen. I need not meet the Hofmarschall 
again ” 

“Once more you will have to do so,” he interrupted hei, 
fondly stroking back the waving masses of gold from her brow. 
“ You heard him say he would go to court even if he had to 
'crawl upon all-fours.’ And T am going too, — for the last 
lime. Liana. Can you consent to accompany me, if I earnestly 
entreat you ?” 

“I will go with you whithersoever you will.” She said it 
bra-^ely enough, but her fair face flushed with absolute terror. 
Hei heart throbbed anxiously at the thought of once more 
21 * 


2246 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


encountering the woman who was her worst foe, who woulc 
move heaven and earth to depose her from her place, to snatch 
from her the heart that but yesterday the most sacred protesta- 
tions had made her own. 


CHAPTER XXIIL 

The Hofmarschall kept his room for the rest of the day i 
he took his dinner there alone, not even asking for Leo. The 
castle servants were in a state of wild amazement, for the 
young baron, with Leo and the new tutor, dined with the 
baroness in her salon. The doctor from the capital had been 
sent for, and the young baron himself accompanied him to 
the bedside of the dying woman in the Indian cottage. In 
compliance with the baron’s orders, and in his presence, the 
injured ceiling of the room had been noiselessly repaired as 
well as possible. The tropica;! animals in the “Vale of Cash- 
mere” had been confined in their huts and cages, and “the 
young master” himself had with his own hands closed the 
pipes of the plashing fountain near by. No noise should 
annoy the peace of the parting soul. 

These arrangements sufficed to influence the variable minds 
of the castle people. The dying woman, who had for so manj 
years been regarded by them as a useless encumbrance, sud- 
denly became a patient sufferer; and since Baron Mainau re- 
turned from the Indian garden so grave and serious, the foot- 
men hovered about the stairways and passages on tiptoe, and 
all unnecessary noise, all singing and whistling, was avoided in 
the stables and carriage-houses, as if the dying woman were 
lying in the castle itself. 

Hanna, too, went about with eyes red with weeping. Two 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


247 


wonderful things had happened to her to-day : through the 
key-hole of the breakfast-room door she had seen the Herr 
Baron kiss “my lady,” and she had been for the first time in 
the Indian garden. She had penetrated into the sick-room 
with a cup of bouillon for Ldhn, and ever since she had been 
weeping incessantly, declaring in the kitchen that they had 
•11 b jen barbarians and fools, for no one except stern old Lbhn 
had cared for the sick woman, who nevertheless, any person 
of sense could see at a glance, was the daughter of some foreign 
prince. 

Mainau, too, had been profoundly impressed by his visit to 
the Indian cottage. The face he had once in boyish curiosity 
eagerly but vainly longed to behold, and which he had since 
avoided, in the belief that it must wear the livery of crime or 
be distorted by insanity, had lain before him upon the pillow, 
pale, in peaceful unchanged beauty, — not Uncle Gisbert’s faith- 
less love, not Gabriel’s mother, — a sinless, dying child, a rose- 
leaf that some breeze had gently loosened from its calyx to 
die upon the ground. The keen, incorruptible intellect of his 
second wife had thrown a torchlight glare into the dim obscu- 
rity of the past; but a still more intense light shone from this 
quiet face. Mainau knew now that Schbnwerth, his pride and 
delight, was fairly mined by deceit and crime. There were 
trap-doors beneath his feet that he had never thought it worth 
his while to lift or explore, strange as the events enacted above 
them had formerly seemed in his youthful eyes. He felt 
guilty indeed to have frivolously allowed himself, in his blind 
confidence in his uncle’s honour, to be cajoled into playing 
away his life, avoiding all tedious investigations, all minute 
examinations. He had placed implicit confidence in the Hof- 
marschall ; but his newly-awakened conscience told him that a 
few months before he would have shut his ears to the slightest 
hint that matters were not as they should be. Now, roused 
though he was through his wife’s infiuence to action and the 


248 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


exercise of his judgment and will, he could not entirely re- 
pair the consequences of his indolence and selfishness. The 
eyes beneath the closed lids did not see him draw to his side 
the ill-used boy, watching in tearless agony his mother’s parting 
breath ; the dying ears did not hear him tenderly call the poor 
“ bastard” “ my son.” The mother felt it all as little as the boj? 
himself, who cared for no other parent but for her now dying, 
to whose heart he had clung when outcast by the hard, cruel 
world outside. 

As yet, Mainau could reproach the Hofmarschall with 
nothing save blind belief. He had not been accessory to the 
forgery of the paper ; he had referred to it with too entire a 
security. The court chaplain had pursued his own path here 
alone, and he had certainly contrived to satisfy the Hofmar- 
schall with regard to the burned note without betraying the 
truth. Mainau said this repeatedly to himself, and yet. he 
could not get rid of a suspicion that the fair fame of the 
Mainaus would suffer as soon as the dust was more fully 
removed from the past. 

Late in the afternoon Liana, too, went to the Indian cot- 
tage. Mainau had received important tidings from Wolkers- 
hausen, and was obliged to retire to his study for a few hours. 
Leo was very content with his new tutor, to whom, for a 
wonder, he had taken a great fancy. Unwonted silence was 
around the young wife as the gate in the wire fence swung to 
behind her, — a silence so intense that it seemed as if the dark 
angel hovering above the bamboo cottage had destroyed all 
vitality in the air and on the earth around it. Strange ! Uncle 
Gisbert’s darlings were dying ^together. His splendid musa, 
that had grown so bravely beneath northern skies, lay pros- 
trate on the grass : the wind had shattered it. “ The sooner 
that nonsense falls to pieces, the better,” the Hofmarschall had 
said. Liana had to step over huge boughs of trees that lay 
across the path, which was covered with rose-leaves. Where 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


249 


the large rose-trees stood singly on the lawn, theii tops wen 
snapped off, as a child would break a decayed twig. Wher 
over her glance rested there was desolation ; the Hindoo temple 
alone shone brighter and more golden after its bath of rain, 
and the pond sparkled smooth and blue at its feet, as if it had 
not played the part of a false friend a few hours before, and 
tossed its mimic waves into the very vestibule of the building. 
Near its shores hundreds of white water-lilies had opened over- 
night. The northern blossoms lay fresh and blooming upon 
their broad green leaves ; but the Indian lotos was drooping 
and dying. 

What would have been the emotions of her murderous per 
secutor in the Schonwerth castle if he could have cast his 
eyes upon that bed of reeds ? There was no chance of that ! 
Liana saw that his windows looking towards the Indian garden 
were actually barricaded. The Bayadere could never have 
been more exquisitely beautiful, when in former years she had 
aroused so fierce a passion in his worldly soul, than now in 
the transfiguration of approaching death. Frau Lbhn had 
swathed he^ slender form, ‘‘ this snow-fiake,” once more in a 
cloud of fresh white muslin, “ because she always liked it so 
much.” Upon her breast, the gentle rise and fall of which 
was now hardly to be discerned, lay the strings of golden coins, 
and her left hand clasped the amulet, hanging by a golden 
chain around her neck. Those blue-veined, transparent lids 
would be raised once more, — when the eye beneath was glazed, 
— but the expression of rapture that was already fixed upol 
the half-open lips would go with them to the vault beneath 
the obelisk. 

“ For God’s sake, madame, do not think that I am crying 
for this poor creature !” Frau Lohn said, in a low voice, ob- 
serving Liana’s kind glance at her swollen eyelids. I love 
her as though she were my own child ; and because I love her 
BO dearly I can say, with a grateful heart, ‘ Thank God, hex 
L* 


250 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


torments are at an end 1’ This morning, in the breakfast-room, 
the tears would come. I thought joy would have choked me ! 
I came back here to the house, where I have known and seen 
60 much suffering and anguish, and cried my heart out, — I 
knew I might now. No need to pretend any longer, — to wear 
a mask, and pull a long, grave face, — when 1 was boihng with 
rage at that rogue, — that scoundrel, — I beg pardon, madame, 
I cannot help it to-day. Sometimes I wonder if this is really 
I, and whether it is all true, and then I am afraid lest his 
reverence should put a stop to it, in spite of all the young 
baron can do. He must be quick and beforehand. Did I 
not say so, — that you, madame, were the good angel sent to us 
by Gfod? His forbearance was exhausted, and the young 
baron’s eyes are opened at last. When he looked at you as 
he came in to breakfast this morning, I saw how it was. I 
know it is your cleverness and your good heart that has done 
it all. Gfabriel may thank you for his good fortune, and you 
will finish what you have begun. I cannot speak to the young 
master, — I beg pardon, madame, but he has been stern and 
harsh for so long, that neither Gfabriel nor I can be easy with 
him yet. I tried this morning, but it would not do. The 
doctor was here, too, and I stood as if I had been beaten. 
Gabriel, go outside for a little while. You need the fresh air, 
and I want to speak with madame.” 

The boy, about whose shoulders Liana had tenderly laid her 
arm, went into the garden and seated himself upon a bench 
beneath the rose-bushes, whence he could see through the 
broken glass of the door the bed upon which lay his dying 
mother. 

“ And the young baron will pay no further heed to the 
paper that they say was written by my old master ? I do not 
know why he will not. I can only thank God that it is so,” 
the housekeeper continued. “ The worst is, that there will be 
R terrible battle with the priest ; and we shall be defeated, as 


TEE SECOND WIFE. 


251 


inre as the skies are above us. You heard the Herr Hof- 
marschall laugh in the young baron’s face this morning. But 

I know something ” And she lowered her voice to the 

softest whisper. “ Madame, there is some writing of my old 
master’s, — a paper that he wrote before my very eyes, letter 
for letter. There,” — she pointed to the dying woman’s left 
hand, — “ she has it in her hand. A little box that looks like 
a little silver book, and the paper is in it. Poor, dear soul ! 
Is it not enough to break your heart? The brutes say she was 
faithless to him whom she so dearly loved ; and there she has 
lain for thirteen years, guarding that miserable little bit of 
paper, cherishing it more tenderly than her child, — ^her poor 
fingers all cramped with holding it so tight, — just because it 
was the last thing that he gave her, and because she thinks 
every one wants to take it from her.” 

Liana thought of the moment when the court chaplain had 
attempted to take away those trinkets. Now she understood 
the poor creature’s agony, and the bold remonstrance on Lohn’s 
part, the harsh decision with which she had interposed between 
the sick woman and the court chaplain. A nervous thrill ran 
through her at the thought that there, buried in the grasp of 
those emaciated, half-dead, childish fingers, a stem witness was 
awaiting its hour of resurrection. Unconsciously, the priest 
had nearly become possessed of it, and there had been no voice 
to whisper in his ear, “ Destroy it !” 

“You see, madame, it was only in the time of her sore 
misery and need that the poor thing took to me,” the house- 
keeper continued. “ I was always a rough, homely kind ol 
woman, and I could not expect her to take a fancy to me. 
When my old master brought her to Schonwerth, he seemed 
to think no one should go near the Indian cottage except 
crawling on their knees. He was fairly insane about her. 
We servants scarcely dared look at her, let alone speak to her, 
when she used to run like a child through the castle-corri 


252 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


dors, and a way into the garden after her fawn, with her lovei 
pursuing her. She would run from him for awhile, and then 
suddenly turn, and in a moment her arms would be around 
his neck. Oh, how pretty it was ! I used to have much ado 
not to run after the airy creature, in her crimson jacket and gay 
skirt, and clasp her in my rough arms. Look at her now 
There never will be anything in the world so pretty again.” 

Her voice broke down ; she arose, and, with tender, ma- 
ternal pride, smoothed the heavy blue-black braid that Jay cn 
either side of the scarcely-heaving bosom. 

“ Ah, how often he has kissed these braids !” she sighed, as 
she stood by the bedside. “ He may have thought as I did, 
that they looked heavier than all the rest of her fairy person. 
Pearls, rubies, and golden coins always used to be scattered 
among her hair, but I had to hand them all over to the Herr 
Hofmarschall. She had a grand lady’s-maid, whom the Herr 
Baron sent for from Paris, or Heaven knows where. She 
waited upon her, and the pretty creature was like an angel to 
her, and an evil return the yellow-skinned hussy made her for 
her kindness. Baron Grisbert one morning had a stroke ; he 
lay for a couple of hours like a dead man, and when he came to 
himself, the attacks of melancholy to which he had been sub- 
ject for some time had taken entire possession of him. From 
that moment the Herr Hofinarschall and the court chaplain 
were the masters of Schonwerth. 

“ I think I told you before, madame, that all the castle ser- 
vants went over to the two scoundrels, — I beg pardon, — and 
the lady’s-maid was the worst of all. She made up the shame- 
ful lie about her poor little lady’s love for Joseph, the hand- 
some groom, and she told it to her sick master. She got two 
thousand thalers for that, and left for her home. Then I be 
gan to go to the Indian cottage, but secretly, lest my husband 
should kni^w it. Here she used to stay cowered together upon 
the bed, in perfect dread of the Hofmarschall, scared and 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


253 


hiiirgiy, keeping herself locked in. I cannot tell why it, waa, 
but he never noticed how she began to depend upon me ; per- 
haps I am not so stupid as he says. For six months she lived 
here like a prisoner. Her longing and grief for the man who 
would not see her, and who seemed not to care for her, were 
heart-breaking. I never shall forget them. After that Gabriel 
was born, and at that time ‘ rough, harsh Lohn’ was installed 
as jailer in the Indian cottage. Sometimes, when my husband 
was ill, I took his place in waiting upon Baron Gisbert, and 
often enough I had her name at my tongue’s end. I longed 
to remind him of her, and to tell him that he had a son, and 
that all that he had been told about her faithlessness was a 
shameful falsehood ; but I kept my tongue bravely between 
my teeth, for I knew that, whatever impression I might make 
upon him, as soon as his dark hour came he would confess it 
all to his reverence, I should be sent to the right-about, and 
the mother and child in the Indian cottage would be left with- 
out a friend in the world.” 

Liana took her hand and pressed it ; no mother could have 
shown a greater depth of love, unselfishness, and tender cunning 
for her offspring than had this woman for these poor outcasts. 
The housekeeper flushed crimson and cast down her eyes as 
she felt the clasp of that soft, beautiful hand. 

“ When they saw,” she continued, in a voice that almost 
faltered, “that Baron Gisbert was near his end, the Hof- 
marschall and his reverence never left him alone. One of them 
was always with him, to see that their plans were not interfered 
with. But once it happened that the Herr Hofmarschali wak 
confined to his room with a cold, and his reverence had to go 
to town to give the sacrament to Prince Adolph, who was 
dying. Oh, it was a special providence that, when the priest 
had gone, my husband had one of his attacks of giddiness and 
could not stir from the sofa. But I was at hand. I went to 
the red room to give my master his medicine, and I drew back 
22 


254 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


the dark curtains from the windows ; the blessed sunlight fell 
full upon his bed, and a veil seemed to fall from his eyes. 
Suddenly he stroked my hand, as if to thank me for my ser- 
vice, and a thought flashed upon me like lightning. ‘ I’ll risk 
it,’ I said to myself, and hurried away. Ten minutes after 
wards, I crept with my pretty lady through the elder hedge 
:)pposite the right wing, and went through the wooden door 
up the winding stairs. No one saw us, no one dreamed that 
something was going on for which the Herr Hofmarschall, 
if he had known it, would have turned off every servant in 
the castle. I opened the door of the red room, — my heart 
was fairly thumping against my ribs, — and she flew in before 
me. Never, while I live, shall I forget the shriek she gave. 
Her handsome, proud lover, the darling of her heart, was 
wasted to the merest shadow. Poor child ! She threw her- 
self upon his bed. Ah,, then one saw how fresh and lovely 
she was ; beside his thin sallow face hers looked like a pink 
and white apple-blossom upon the green silk coverlet. He 
looked gravely at her at first, until she threw her arms around 
his neck and pressed her little face close to his as she used to 
do. Then he stroked her hair, and she began to talk in her 
own tongue, — I could not understand a word, — and she went on 
quicker and quicker. She must have told him everything that 
she had upon her heart, for his eyes grew large and sparkled 
angrily, and it seemed as if all the blood there was in him 
mounted to his face. And I told him all there was on my 
heart, too. Good heavens, how frightened I was ! I thought 
he would die upon the spot. 

“ He tried hard to speak, — he could not. Then he wrote on 
paper, ‘ Can you not bring a magistrate or a lawyer?’ I shook 
my head, — it was impossible ; he must have known that as 
well as I. Then he wrote again. Oh, how I pitied him! 
Great drops of perspiration stood upon his forehead, and his 
eyes were full of the agony that he was suffering for the dear 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


255 


little creature, who kept stroking his face and murmuring her 
happiness in being with him once more. When he finished, I 
had to bring him a light and sealing-wax. With the costly 
ring that he afterwards gave the Hofmarschall he made two 
big seals underneath what he had written. He did it him- 
self, but he was so weak that I had to press his hand down 
that the crest might be impressed sharp and clear upon the 
wax. Then he looked at it through a glass, and it must have 
been all right, for he nodded his head. He held out the paper 
for me to read the address. I spelled it out, ‘ To the Freihen 
Raoul von Mainau.’ Then he handed the paper to me t 
keep ; but she sprang up and snatched it from me, kissed h 
again and again, and then shook out upon the floor the con- 
tents of the little silver book and put the paper in it instead. 
Something like a smile passed over his face, and he nodded to 
me, as if to say it would be well taken care of there. After 
that, he embraced and kissed her for the last time upon earth. 
He knew it, but she never thought it. She did not want to 
go when he made a sign to me to take her home. She began 
to cry like a child, but she was so gentle and docile ; he only 
looked grave and raised his finger, and she went. If she had 
only stayed away ! But now that she had seen him again, 
she fretted after him till she was ill. She scarcely looked at 
her little Gabriel, she so longed to go to him whom she adored. 
One day she slipped away from me and ran to the castle. The 
Herr Hofmarschall caught her in the passage leading to the 
sick-room. How it all happened then, whether she was about 
to scream, and he clutched her throat to prevent it, or whether 
he did it in a fury of jealousy, no one knows, and no one 
ever will know, but he did it. I know it from herself, for I 
understand her eyes as well as if she spoke to me. At first 
her mind was all right, until his reverence came and talked to 
her, — talked to her until at last, one day, she shrieked like one 
in torture. Heavens ! how he hurried away ! H b never tried 


256 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


it again. But his work was done ; her poor brain was never 
right afterwards. Now I have told you everything, and I 
beg you to take and keep the chain with the little silver 
book ” 

“ Not now !” cried Liana, in distress. She went to the bed 
and leaned over the dying woman. The breath of the grave 
seemed already to come from the parted lips, but the bosom 
still rose and fell with gentle regularity. “ I should never 
forgive myself if, as I took it, her eyes should open, and she 
should be conscious in her last moment of the loss of her treas- 
ure,” said the young wife. “ When all is over, send for me ; 
I will come, although it should be in the middle of the night. 
I will take the paper out of her hand — ^you are right, I ought 
to do that myself — but this poor hand shall not be touched 
until then. Frau Lbhn, I am sorry, but I must reproach you 
for one thing, — ^you ought to have delivered the paper to him 
to whom it was addressed.” 

“ Madame I” the housekeeper exclaimed, almost wildly. 
“You say that now, when everything promises well, — ^but 
then ? I was entirely alone : all the servants were against me. 
I could do nothing to contend with such men as the Herr 
Hofmarschall and the priest ; wiser heads than mine would 
have failed there. And the young baron, who might have 
fought it out with them ? Oh, heavens ! Yes — yes, if one 
could have put her under a glass case, like the blue shoe !” 
A deep blush suffused Liana’s cheeks, and the housekeeper 
paused, in terror. “ Oh, what am I saying ’ That is all 
over now,” she corrected herself. “ But then it was bad 
enough. Madame, you heard him say to-day that he had 
thrust Giabriel like a dog from his path. I will tell you what 
would have happened. The young baron would have taken 
the paper from me and shown it to the two others ; they 
would have laughed at him, and told him that they knew 
better, for that they had never left the sick man alone day or 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


257 


night. And I should have been convicted of the trick, as 
sure as two and two make four, and dismissed from the castle 
for lying. No, no, what I had to do was to watch and wait. 
It would have been different if I had known what was written 
in the paper; but I did not stand near enough to see while 
my master was writing, and when he handed it to me I had 
mough to do to spell out the address. Not very long ago I 
took the little book to examine it, when the poor child was 
sleeping soundly under the effects of morphia, but I could not 
open it. It seems fairly welded together : there is no lock or 
spring to be seen. I think it will have to be broken open.” 

“ So much the better,” said Liana. She went to the glass 
door and beckoned to Gabriel. It had grown late, much too 
late for the young wife to tell Mainau of all this before going 
to court, and he had told her that for certain reasons he must 
accept this invitation. It was almost too late to dress. She 
could hardly endure the idea of standing before her mirror, 
of adorning herself, at such a time, — when old, hidden crimes 
were just creeping into the daylight. She hastily left the 
Indian cottage, to seek Mainau and impart to him the out- 
line, at least, of the story she had just heard; but he was not 
to be found, and a footman informed her that the Herr Baron 
had received some tidings from Wolkershausen which had taken 
him from the castle. He believed he had gone to the gar- 
dener’s With a heavy heart she went to her dressing-room 


R 


22'*^ 


258 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


CHAPTER XXIV. 

The carriage drawn by the che&tnuts was waiting on the 
broad sweep in front of the castle, and just before the entrance 
stood the Hofmarschall’s glass coach. The stout, well-fed 
coachman on the box of the latter had no trouble with his 
horses, they were handsome and gentle, and stood like lambs ; 
but the chestnuts stamped and snorted incessantly. 

“ Brutes !” growled the Hofmarschall, as he was carried down- 
stairs in his chair. He might have walked, but he allowed 
himself this indulgence, in view of the hours of martyrdom 
upon his feet, now in prospect at court. 

Mainau was walking to and fro in the vestibule, and, just as 
the footmen deposited the wheeled chair with its burden upon 
the mosaic floor, a man passed out by a side-door, quickening 
his steps as he caught sight of the old man. 

The Hofmarschall turned in his chair, as if unable to trust 
his eyes. “ What ! was not that Dammer, the rascal whom I 
turned OS'?” he asked Mainau. 

“Yes, uncle.” 

“ How the deuce, then — what does the fellow mean by going 
through here so sans fagon?" he harshly asked the footmen. 

“ Herr Baron, he has just had his supper in the servants 
hall,” one of them replied, with hesitation. 

The Hofmarschall started to his feet. “ In my servants 
hall? At my servants’ table?” 

“ My dear uncle, I have some right in this servants’ hall 
and table, have I not?” Mainau said, calmly. “Dammei 
brought me a message from Wolkershausen ; he cannot ride 
back until t-o-morrow morning ; is he to starve here in Schon- 


TUE SECOND WIFE. 


259 


^erth in the mean while? It was very stupid of him to cross 
your path, but he is here with my permission.” 

“ Ah, indeed ! I understand. You are a philanthropist, and 
are establishing a kind of house of refuge for criminals, a 
house of correction, at Wolkershausen. Very good!” And 
the Hofmarschall dropped into his chair again. 

“ Dammer was wanting in respect to you. Of course he 
^ould not be permitted to remain at Schbnwerth.” Mainau 
spoke with unalterable composure. “But he has several 
times had terrible provocation. We must not forget that he 
is a man, not a dog whom we thrash into compliance with our 
whims and desires.” The flush that here rose to his cheeks 
showed how well he remembered the moment when his anger 
had prompted him to lift his hand so unworthily against the 
man. “Besides, his old father, who is entirely innocent, 
would have suffered much from so unjustly severe a punish- 
ment as his dismissal. He received a stern rebuke, and was 
sent to Wolkershausen. So the account was balanced.” 

“Indeed! You think so! Balanced between the Hof- 
marschall von Mainau and a scoundrel ! Well, well, time rolls 
on, and the longest road has a turning. Will you have 
the kindness to take precedence to-day ? I do not want those 
brutes of yours behind me.” 

“I am waiting for my wife, uncle.” The words were 
scarcely uttered before the rustle of a silken train was heard 
along the pillared corridor, and Liana entered the vestibule. 
Mainau had told her that the ladies had been requested to 
appear en grande toilette^ and she was dressed in the silver 
brocade. The large emerald solitaires of her necklace glittered 
in her hair, confining a spray of snow-drops among its red- 
golden waves. 

“Ah, what a surprise for our court!” exclaimed the Hof 
marschall. He had not, apparently, entertained the idea of hei 
accompanying them. “ AUez toujours^ madame,” he said, with 


260 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


a gesture towards the entrance, pushing back his chair by an 
effort, as she hesitated to pass him. 

Mainau offered her his arm and led her to the carriage. 
“ My bride is lovely as Snow-drop in the old fairy-tale, but her 
fair face is clouded with melancholy,” he whispered, tenderly. 

“ I have so much to tell you. I seem to be walking upon 
3oals of fire,” she said, hurriedly and anxiously. “ If we were 
but at home once more!” 

“ Patience 1 My errand at the court will soon be concluded, 
and then away into the world, with my darling beside me.” 

He lifted her into the carriage. The chestnuts sped away, 
and the Hofmarschall’s steeds followed at a more leisurely 
pace. 

Baron Mainau’s second marriage had come to be regarded 
in the capital, in spite of the lofty lineage of the young wife, 
as a kind of mesalliance. She was said to be nothing more 
than a housekeeper and governess, frequenting kitchen, cellar, 
and laundry in a black silk apron, with a basket of keys upon 
her arm ; that was her element. How odious 1 A baroness 
Mainau, the wife of one of the wealthiest men in the country 1 
Heavens! what charming naivete and ignorance of all such 
matters had lent an indescribable charm to the first wife! 
She had been the fairy, not the mistress, of the household, — a 
genuine aristocratic lily of the field. She had dwelt upon 
this earth that costly laces might be woven for her, that 
bright champagne might sparkle for her, and that countless 
hands and feet might enjoy the inestimable privilege of adorn- 
ing, tending, and cherishing her fragile form. Had any one 
asked her where the Schbnwerth kitchen was, she would prob- 
ably in her pretty wrath have laid her riding-whip about the 
offender’s shoulders ; but she was quite as much at home in the 
stables as in her boudoir, — that jessamine extract of which she 
was so fond had sometimes hardly sufficed to banish the odoui 
of the stables from her dress : nevertheless there had been some 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


261 


thing deliciously original, indefinably aristocratic, in this taste 
of hers. None of all the good people of the capital had as yet 
seen the second wife ; she was known to be tall and red-haired 
and to these two qualities popular report added, as a necessary 
consequence, broad high shoulders, big feet, red hands, and a 
coarse skin. Society in the capital had further been accustomed 
</0 regard Baron Mainau as a bachelor : he always appeared with- 
out his wife ; and at the last large ball given there, he had replied 
to an inquiry as to how she was with a shrug of his shoulders 
and a “Well, I suppose; I have not been to Schonwerth for 
three days.” Besides, it was confidently stated that his de- 
parture for the East was to be the signal for a separation. 
And now he suddenly entered the concert-room of the palace, 
and on his arm leaned a lovely young creature, snow-white 
from her brow to the delicate satin-covered foot peeping from 
beneath her petticoat, and of a beauty so pale, grave, and cold 
that it appeared as if he had snatched the Ice-Queen from her 
glacial throne. 

The duchess had wished to make the entertainment espe- 
cially brilliant ; this was the first concert given at court since 
the duke’s death, and a whisper was circulated that there 
was to be also a small dance afterwards, with which she meant 
to surprise the young people invited. The concert-salon and 
the adjoining suite of rooms blazed with light; it streamed 
from the chandeliers, from candelabra in all the corners, and 
in the distant conservatory from gigantic lily-cups and white 
glass maybells among the huge tropical plants and fiowers 
All the guests who owned diamonds and jewels wore them, 
sprinkled upon curls, or upon neck and arms, shining satin or 
puffed tulle. Silken trains rustled, spangled fans fiuttered, 
and from the lips of the young apd lovely and the old and 
ugly came soft tones of gossip, scandal, flattery, secret love, 
or lurking envy. The confused murmur was hushed for 9 
moment at the entrance of “ the Schonwerthers.” 


262 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


Was this she, the mythic second wife? So strangely proud 
and composed? So little affected or embarrassed by the 
brilliant assemblage? What new whim was this of the eccen- 
tric man upon whose arm she leaned? By his mock-marriage 
with this Countess Trachenberg he had placed her in a most 
ambiguous position ; he had hitherto hidden her away as if he 
were ashamed of her, she had been the object at court of com- 
passionate sneers, and at this very moment, it was said, a request 
for a dissolution of the unsuitable connection had been dis- 
patched to Borne — there was no doubt of it ; and yet he had 
brought her to court thus ostentatiously, as if to say, “ Look, 
my taste was not so bad after all ! Even for the sake of carry- 
ing out the farce I proposed, I could not quite belie my 
appreciation of beauty. Take one look at the woman so 
maligned before I send her home !” And the men all thought 
him insane with arrogance and vanity. Surely there could be 
no more harmonious sight than that of those two stately figures 
walking side by side. The first wife had always flitted before 
him like a butterfly, and when conventionality required that her 
finger-tips should rest upon his arm, and her small person 
accommodate itself to his, it was quite ridiculous to behold 
them. Before the second wife had walked the length of the 
spacious sabn, all had decided that no Lorelei had ever been 
half so fair as she, and that Mainau was a fool and blind. 

No one saw how he pressed the round white arm closer to 
his side, as if stricken with remorse at having exposed his 
young wife to the eager gaze of so many eyes ; no one could 
hear his tender whispered words, — ^^words betokening the most 
j ealous affection ; no one understood the earnest gravity with 
which he presented her to several elderly ladies as his wife. 
It was all a farce, a new caprice, and the poor victim by his 
side, and indeed the whole court, were, as usual, to minister 
to the gratification of his whim. 

There was a sudden hush ; all present arose, and all eyes 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


263 


^fire directed to the door through which the duchess was to 
enter. The folding-doors were solemnly thrown open, and her 
serene highness, followed by the two little princes and several 
ladies and gentlemen, entered the salon. 

Involuntarily Liana’s eyes sought Mainau’s face. It flushed 
fo the very temples, and an evil smile played about his lips. 

Ah, in yellow silk, and pomegranates in her hair !” he said, 
in a low tone, without returning his young wife’s glance. 
“ Liana, look at this lovely princess. Just so she was dressed 
at the ball where she promised to be mine. It would seem 
she desires specially to recall those heavenly reminiscences this 
evening !” 

The duchess did indeed look magniflcently beautiful. The 
brilliant golden hue of her dress about her bare shoulders, the 
splendour of the blossoms amid her black curls, set off with 
startling effect the waxen white of her complexion, while the 
supple, serpent-like grace of her motions, the strange, pleasure- 
breathing curl of her full, delicately-tinted lips, and the Are in 
her large eyes, — involuntarily Liana thought of the Erl-king’s 
daughters, who dance to death mortals who are the objects of 
their passion. If he should succumb again to this magic? 
The young wife shivered ; she clasped his arm closer with hei 
white, slender Angers, and pressed to his side, so that he coulo 
feel the wild throbbing of her heart. 

'‘Eaoul!” she whispered, as if to remind him of her pres- 
ence. He started and turned to her ; that tone, which had in it 
so caressing a tenderness, struck his ear for the first time from 
her lips; for the first time her whole soul lay unveiled in the 
large steel-gray eyes that sought his own. Here, before the 
entire court, in the presence of the duchess herself, that 
single whispered word told him that his love was returned. 

The royal lady stayed her steps for an instant; a dark veil 
seemed to dim her brilliancy as her pencilled brows gloomily 
contracted. The silvery- white robe glimmering like moonlight 


264 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


amid all the gay toilettes apparently surprised her much ; evi- 
dently her highness shared the amazement of all present at 
the young wife’s appearance this evening, but she immediately 
pursued her way, bowing graciously in all directions, particu- 
larly distinguishing the Hofmarschall, — giving him her hand 
to kiss, — in her pleasure at seeing him once more at court after, 
his long absence, and contriving to say a few courteous words 
to many of her guests as she slowly passed along. The 
jewelled fan in her hand seemed to scatter a fire of brilliant 
sparks, and the airy folds of yellow gauze floated upon the 
heavy satin train like a shadowy mist gilded by the sun. 
Suddenly she paused before Liana. 

“ Aha ! We thought the learned recluse of Schdnwerth so 
averse to social gaiety that we did not venture to send her a 
special bidding to our little musical evening,” she said, coldly, 
- and yet as if excusing herself for not particularly inviting the 
young wife. 

Liana blushed crimson, and looked up in terror to him who 
had brought her hither ; but he did not appear to notice the 
irritation that had caused such discourtesy on the royal lady’s 
part. 

“We always permit ourselves exceptional conduct on the 
eve of great changes, your highness,” he said, in the dreaded 
tone of voice that seemed fairly saturated with sarcasm, “ and 
therefore I requested the baroness to accompany me this 
evening. We are to depart in a few days.” 

“Indeed, Baron Mainau?” the duchess exclaimed, in de- 
lighted surprise. “ This Eastern tour is like a fever in your 
veins. I believe you would undertake it although the world 
were on fire. Ah, well, you will come back weary at last, 
and perhaps a little more — socially disposed.” Her counte- 
nance had brightened; but since she had just heard the con- 
firmation of her hope that the separation she so desired would 
lake place in a few days, she was doubly irritated by the 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


265 


proud repose aud confidence manifested by the young wife at 
Mainau’s side. Had she not already taken the first step in her 
future path which would never again lead the divorced wife to 
Schonwerth ? And yet she did not even withdraw from Mai- 
rau’s arm the hand that lay there, as if asserting its right to 
that place. “You will be glad to see your quiet Rudisdorf 
again,’ she said, with a dark glance at the delicate, hated 
finger-tips. 

“ I have given up my visit to Rudisdorf, your highness,” 
Liana replied, embarrassed. She did not like to make the 
explanation, but in view of the duchess’s remark no alternative 
was left her. 

The duchess started involuntarily, and the hand that held 
her fan was dropped among the rustling folds of her satin skirt. 

“What! You remain here?” A disdainful smile played 
about her lips. “ Oh, I understand. You are magnanimous, 
and will not forsake our good Hofmarschall,” she added, 
quickly, graciously inclining her head towards the old man, 
who had gradually approached. In spite of the murmur of 
talk in the salon, he had greedily devoured every word that 
had passed between the duchess and his relatives. Now he 
remonstrated in angry terror. 

“I must humbly entreat your highness — indeed, your de- 
voted old Hofmarschall has nothing whatever to do with these 
arrangements,” he declared, laying his hand in solemn protest 
upon his heart. 

“ Quite true ; my uncle has had no voice whatever in the 
natter,” Mainau said, composedly, and in rather a loud tone. 
It almost seemed as if he were speaking to the by-standers, 
and not to the duchess. “Much as I desire always to leave 
him in faithful, devoted hands, in this instance I must consider 
myself first. I could not consent to a separation, and my wife. 
In her unselfish kindness, consents to go with me.” 

It sounded so reasonable, so grave and dignified, and as if 
M 23 


266 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


those lips had never curled in scorn, as if there had never 
been a time when he had given over the silent, slender crea- 
ture by his side to all the malice of evil-disposed tongues. 

The duchess suddenly unfolded her fan with a loud rustle, 
and began to fan herself as if it had grown stiflingly hot in 
the salon. “ A new caprice, then, Baron Mainau ?” she said, 
in vain endeavoring to give to her voice a tone of contemptu^ 
ous gaiety. “ Hitherto you have zealously avoided everything 
that could dim the nimbus of the interesting traveller. You 
have played the part of a veritable fairy-prince. And sud- 
denly to appear with this latter-day Lady Stanhope by your 
side, — not a bad idea ! It certainly will create surprise and 
make a sensation.” 

“Not for long, your highness,” said Mainau, with a quiet 
smile, “ since I shall not take my ‘ Lady Stanhope ’ to the East, 
but to my retired estate, Blankenau, in Franconia, where we 
shall reside.” 

Her serene highness turned away and gave the signal for 
the opening of the concert. Those who knew her well 
trembled. When her eyes gleamed thus above her pale 
cheeks, when there was such harsh severity in the lines about 
her mouth and prominent chin, she never granted a petition 
or was accessible to any gentle emotion. 


CHAPTER XXV. 

The ducal band played magnificently, and the prima donna 
sang gloriously. Her highness the duchess herself gave the 
signal for the applause, and in the pauses of the music over • 
whelmed the singer with tokens of her favour and approval 
Everything went on so smoothly, so easily, and yet in such 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


267 


strict accordance with conventional rule, that Liana thought 
her own fancy alone caused her blood to course so feverishly in 
her veins ; she could not look without a shudder at the pale 
Medusa profile of the duchess. There, in the midst of a group 
of officers in full uniform, and strangely contrasting with their 
splendour, sat two dark figures, the Hofmarschall and the 
court chaplain. Liana could almost read in the old man’s 
features what he was passionately whispering into his neigh- 
bour’s ear ; but in rising anger she turned her eyes away. The 
priest kept his eyes fixed upon her face, and seemed to be re- 
peating inwardly those terrible words : “I will endure every- 
thing, silently and without resistance, but you cannot shake 
ue ofi*.” She feared him no longer. The stately figure who 
with folded arms leaned against the wall beside her seat would 
protect her. He was strong enough physically and mentally 
to crush the viper that would intrude upon the happiness of 
his home. If her back were only once turned upon this hall, 
with its brilliant assemblage ! But the hour of release had 
not yet struck. The astounding intelligence that Mainau was 
about to retire to Franconia with his young wife ran like wild- 
fire from mouth to mouth, and when the concert was over all 
crowded about the baron to hear his confirmation of the report. 
Then Mainau was honoured by a command to open the ball 
with the duchess. 

“Pray take me into the next room,” she said, interrupting 
the waltz with which the polonaise concluded. “ Too much 
gas-light here, and too many people! The heat is really 
tropical.” 

They crossed the threshold, while the othei couples whirled 
past them. 

“ You pl^y your new part incomparably well, Baron Mai- 
nau,” the duchess said, in a low tone, as she signed to several 
gentlemen, comfortably occupied at the supper-tables, and who 
started up at her entrance, not to disturb themselves. 


268 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


“ May I ask the name of the drama that the court is bringing 
out and at which I am unconsciously assisting?” he rejoined, 
falling into the easy, frivolous tone in which she had spoken. 

“Mephisto!” She raised her fan with a graceful air of 
menace. “We are not playing — we are too depressed, too tired 
and inelastic, thanks to wearying inward strife. We have 
no talent, like the gifted Baron Mainau, for bringing a sudden 
resolve into scenic action. Shall I tell you that a whisper 
goes in the salon that the second act of the drama, ‘ All for 
Revenge,’ has been played to-night?” 

As she spoke, they entered the conservatory. As they had 
passed quickly through the rooms, neither had noticed sitting 
in the last, which was apparently empty, the Hofmarschall and 
his friend the court chaplain. They had iced fruit and cham- 
pagne before them, but the ice was melting and the champagne 
had foamed untouched. 

Mainau hastily drew aside his arm, so that the hand of the 
duchess lost its support and dropped by her side. They stood 
alone beneath palm-trees, beneath a green shower of tropical 
trailing plants depending from the glass roof. Like the 
maiden in the fairy-tale, sprinkled with gold from the magic 
tree, the pale, beautiful woman stood there in yellow s^tin 
from which the dazzling gas-light was reflected in a metallic 
gleam of colour. 

“ There is no second act for revenge grown cold ; it dies, like 
the bee in the fable, as soon as it has stung,” said Mainau, 
with a slight change of colour. 

The duchess looked at him with flashing eyes. “ I pray yOur 
pardon, then ! Those good people must have been mistaken,” 
she said, with a graceful shrug of her beautiful shoulders. 
“ Some other motive animates you, doubtless, but we can as 
little believe in the one you would seem to profess as that that 
gorgeous pomegranate-tree with its flery blossoms is longing to 
take root in glacial snow. You may be impressed by this blonde 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


269 


Countess Juliana, with her studied air of reflection, her pain- 
fully acquired mite of masculine information, but such a woman 
is never really loved.” 

“You speak of such a passion as I formerly felt,” Mainau 
replied, in a hard, icy tone. It irritated him to hear from 
those lips the name he so loved. “ How lightly it took root 
is plainly proved hy the ease with which it died.” 

The duchess started back, and her breath came quickly, aS 
if he had pointed at her some deadly weapon. 

“If what you say is true,” he continued, inexorably, “that 
such a woman is rarely loved, I am indeed blest ! For then 
I shall surely be able to rid myself of the torments of jealousy 
that I sometimes suffer. And now let me tell your highness 
why I am here with this ‘blonde Countess Juliana.’ It is 
no act of revenge, but of repentance ; of public apology to my 
injured wife.” 

The royal lady burst into a laugh so loud and convulsive 
that it sounded almost frenzied. 

“I beg pardon!” she cried, breathlessly, as if stifled with 
laughter, “ but the idea is too ridiculous. The bold duellist, 
not to say bully, — forgive me! — the brave soldier with his 
dreaded sneer at female honour, in which he has absolutely no 
belief, doing penance to the countess with the red braids i 
The lion piously prostrating himself before the distaff — Oh, 
’tis delicious!” 

He recoiled. A sovereign’s crown rested upon her brow 
during her son’s minority it was hers to decide upon life an 
death, the weal and woe of her people ; and yet here she stood 
laughing wildly, with the air of a bacchante, stripped of even 
the feminine dignity that might have clothed the poorest of 
her subjects. 

“ Your highness, ‘ the duellist, not to say bully,’ has need 
hut of a small amount of courage,” he said; and his brow 
darkened. “ It costs far more force of will and self-control 
23 * 


270 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


for the mocker Mainau, the frivolous satirist of women, tc 
confess his conversion, to show ‘those good people’ that the 
zealous advocate for ‘mariages de convenance’ has no more 
earnest hope or desire than to win the love of his own wife. 
But I owe this atonement to the ‘ blonde Countess Juliana,’ 
the maiden whose soul is inspired by pure enthusiasms, whose 
thoughts are her own. This penance I imposed upon myself 
before I dared to appropriate my new happiness.” 

The fan fell from the duchess’s hand, and dangled, sparkling, 
by the delicate chain that confined it to her waist. The beau- 
tiful woman stood with her back to Mainau before an orange- 
tree in full bloom, and plucked off blossom after blossom, as 
if determined that the tree should never bear a single fruit. 
She was silent : no word passed her lips ; but in the nervous 
action of her hands there was something like suppressed 
despair, and the baron could not forbear an emotion of pity. 

“ I wish I could recall all the follies of my life,” he said, 
further ; “ there has been so much in it to outrage a sense 
of honour and chivalry. I cannot, indeed, change my own 
nature. I hate those who hate me, and I am afraid that the 
‘ milk of human kindness’ will never soothe my throbbing 
pulses ; but I repent the savage vengeances I have taken, 
your highness; I would gladly see repose and happiness 
where I formerly invoked misery and a curse.” 

The duchess turned around, with an entire change of coun- 
tenance. “ Why, who can have told you, Herr von Mainau, 
that I am not happy ?” she asked the baron, in a cold, scorn- 
ful tone. She straightened her stately figure and suddenly 
looked as if standing before her throne giving audience to a 
subject. The pose was admirable and successful. Not so the 
expression of her eyes ; in them gleamed the wild fire of the 
angry, offended woman. “Happiness? I have it. I can 
place my foot upon the necks of those whom I hate, for I 
have the pou^r. I can disperse upon the air their dreams 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


271 


of deliglit and bliss, for I have 'power. Power i\ happines?. 
foi a woman’s proud, ambitious soul. Take heed to what I 
say, Freiherr von Mainau. You must admit that your amiable 
wish was entirely superfluous.” 

She walked towards the entrance to the rooms, but paused 
upon the threshold, and, pointing through their open doors, 
looked back over her shoulder. “ There she comes, calm and 
pale as a cool moonlit night,” she said. And her pearly 
teeth glittered beneath her lip, curved in a malicious smile. 
“ In truth, Baron Mainau, yours is an enviable lot. But let 
me give you one piece of advice : Do not go to Franconia I 
The climate of Sicily might perhaps enable one to tolerate 
the freezing temperature of such stern virtue and self-con* 
scious delicacy.” 

Liana was slowly approaching upon the arm of a chambei 
lain with whom she had danced the polonaise. The duchess 
left the conservatory, and Mainau paused upon the threshold 
to await his wife. The couple arrested their steps near the 
opposite door and stood aside to allow the duchess, who walked 
with her head haughtily erect, to pass them, but she stopped 
just before the young wife. 

“ My dear Frau von Mainau,” she said, in a studied but 
perfectly Arm tone, “ you are to be carried away from us ; 
you are, indeed, called upon to rule husband and household 
with a gentle yet strong arm. See that the phantom does 
not escape you just when you think to hold it fast. A but- 
terfly must fly, — ^it is a condition of its existence. And now 
fair fortune attend you, lovely Hide !” With easy grace she 
rxised her white arms and, opening her closed hands, scattered 
a shower of crushed orange-blossoms over the shoulders and 
arms of the young wife. 

Then she again took up her fan. “ Herr von Lieven, I 
wish to dance the next galop with Count Brandau,” she said, 
in a loud, clear voice, to the chamberlain 


272 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


He hurried away to acquaint the slender, handsome lieu- 
tenant with the favour her highness accorded him. With a 
farewell wave of her fan, the royal lady passed by Liana, who 
curtsied as she passed, and went back to the music-salon. 

Be sure the butterfly’s flights are past,” said Mainau, with 
% bright smile, as he drew Liana with him across the threshold 
of the conservatory, pressing to his breast with passionate 
tenderness the hand that lay upon his arm. “ It never was a 
butterfly from genuine choice, and could it have found its 
Liana earlier it would now have far less to repent of.” 

Silently and timidly she stood beside him, and pointed 
towards the adjoining room, in the corner of which she had 
observed the two friends sitting; they had arisen and ibl- 
lowed the duchess to the salon. 

“Ah, here you are ! Where have you been hiding, Herr 
Hofmarschall ?” the haughty lady inquired. Count Brandau 
was standing before her, bowing almost to the ground, as the 
Hofmarschall approached in evident embarrassment. “There 
is wonderful news abroad. Baron Mainau is about to retire 
to Franconia. Do you accompany him ?” 

The Hofmarschall started in horror. “ I, your highness ?” 
he cried, in an indignant tone. “ I would sooner go to my 
grave, I would sooner beg my bread from door to door, than 
live a day longer with my degenerate nephew. I shall re- 
main in my Schbnwerth, and if your highness would now and 
then deign to let the sunlight of your favour illumine the 
lonely life of an old and faithful servant by continuing to 

make Schonwerth the favourite goal of your rides ” 

“ Herr von Mainau,” she coldly interrupted him, in a hard 
tone of voice, as she laid her hand upon Count Brandau’ s 
arm, “ I hear that the wind last night destroyed your mag 
nifleent musa, to see which, as you remember, was my prin- 
cipal inducement for fre(fuenting the ‘ Vale of Cashmere.’ 
tfc has gone, gone ! And, besides, I must confess that I have 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


273 


Qot jet been able to stake off the horror that possesses me at 
the remembrance of that terrible powder-play of the children’s 
which came so near proving fatal to the crown-prince and hia 
brother in your garden. You can understand that years must 
elapse before a mother’s heart can forget such a fright.” 

A loud galop began from the orchestra, and, with a haughty 
inclination to the annihilated courtier, the beautiful duchess* 
was whirled off in the arms of her partner, “ in a strangely wild 
and excited way,” several scandal-loving old ladies whispered 
among themselves. The Hofmarschall looked after her with 
an ashy cheek, and knees that almost refused him their support. 
Incredible! incomprehensible! Would not all his haughty 
ancestors arise from their graves to repudiate him? Would 
not the earth yawn and engulf him, wretched outcast ! He 
was in disgrace ; he who would have signed away his soul to 
the Evil One to avoid such a disaster ! Through no fault of 
his had this dark cloud gathered above his head. In ten min- 
utes the “ interesting bit of news” would be circulating from 
lip to lip of his enviers and ill-wishers, and a hundred eyes 
and fingers would be directed towards him ; he vanished from 
the salon. 

Soon after the departure of the Hofmarschall’s glass coach, 
the equipage drawn by the chestnuts stood waiting at tho 
portal of the ducal castle. 

‘‘ My errand is done. Now I can carry home my bride,” 
Mainau whispered to Liana as he lifted her into the carria^o 


274 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


CHAPTER XXVL 

Again he sat upon the box and held the reins, while ohe 
leaned back among the cushions, not, as formerly, a gray, un- 
pretending nun with her heart ftill of cold resignation. The 
rich bridal dress lay in sparkling folds upon the white satin, 
emeralds gleamed in her hair, and the fine eyes of the young 
wife flashed as they followed every movement of the manly 
figure that in her presence retained not a trace of the cold 
reserve of ofiended pride. 

It was a warm, moonlit night. The silver orb above sailed 
through cloudless blue, but between heaven and earth hung a 
light silvery mist that veiled all distinctness of outline. Beside 
the motionless waters of the little lake in the ducal park the 
majestic lindens formed one heavy mass of foliage, in the shade 
of which the fishing- village had vanished so conipletely that it 
seemed as if some giant hand had plunged the little toy be- 
neath the waters of the lake. Liana did not know that upon 
that spot the duchess had heard her name for the first time , 
that there the countess with the red braids had been summoned 
to bear her unconscious part in a scheme of revenge which had 
been secretly cherished for years. Nevertheless, she turned 
from the scene with a shiver; the dense shade and the leaden 
glassy surface of the water had a ghostly air. Besides, the 
young wife was distressed and anxious. She knew that the 
court chaplain was in the glass coach rolling before her on its 
way to Schbn worth ; he had followed the Hofmarschall like 
his shadow. From the dressing-room she had seen him enter 
the vehicle and close the door. This odious priest would be 
khere when she entered Schbnwerth for the last time; his was 


THE SECOND WIF±.. 


275 


indeed the boldness and steady persistence with which the beast 
of prey dogs its victim. She shuddered as the carriage left the 
forest and swept through the Schonwerth valley, now bathed 
in moonlight. There rolled the Hofmarschall’s equipage. She 
saw the gleam of its glass windows before it disappeared be- 
hind the hedge. Liana had to summon reason and courage 
to aid her not to entreat Mainau to drive past Schonwerth 
and take her to Wolkershausen this very night. 

As soon as the carriage stopped before the castle, Frau Lohn 
stood by the door, as if she had started from the earth. “All 
has been over for an hour, madame,” she whispered, breath- 
lessly. “ He of the shaven crown arrived also awhile ago. 
He might demand the trinkets of me this very night foi the 
Hofmarschall ; he did so that other time.” 

“I will come,” said Liana, and sprang out of the carriage, 
while Frau Lohn crossed the gravelled space to return to the 
Indian cottage. A fearful moment was at hand for the young 
wife ; she must tell Mainau of the scene by Grisbert von Mai- 
nau’s death-bed, she must tell him all that she knew, and then 
he could accompany her and take possession himself of the 
mysterious little silver book. 

He had not observed the housekeeper, and quietly conducted 
Liana to her apartments. Both started back as they entered 
the room that served as a kind of antechamber to the blue 
boudoir ; on the table in the centre a lamp was burning, and 
beside it stood the Hofmarschall, erect, lightly resting his right 
hand upon the table. 

“ Forgive me, madame, for intruding here,” he said, in % 
monotonous tone of frigid courtesy. “But it is past tea 
o’clock. I was uncertain whether your husband would 
feel inclined to grant me a few moments of explanation to- 
night, and, as I must have them, I preferred to await him 
here.” 

Mainau dropped his wife’s hand from his arm and ap- 


276 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


proached the old man. “ Here I am, uncle ; I would willingly 
have gone to you if you had desired it. What have you to 
say to me?” he asked, calmly, but with the air of a man who 
is not disposed to allow of any undue criticism of his conduct. 

“What have I to say to you?” the Hofmarschall repeated, 
with suppressed rage. “ First of all, I beg leave to decline 
the title of ‘ uncle.’ You have, as you declared to me this 
morning, broken off all connection with your equals in rank 
and social standing. I, on the contrary, belong among them, 
mind and heart, estate and person; there is, of course, an 
irreparable, eternal breach between yourself and your father’s 
brother.” 

“I shall know how to endure that misfortune,” Mainau 
replied, his cheek paling, but in a clear, quiet voice. “ The 
future must show what you gain by hazarding all upon a 
single card. One of my numerous ‘ good friends’ whispered 
to me hastily as I left the ducal castle that you were fallen 
into great disgrace upon my account.” At the word disgrace, 
so calmly uttered, the Hofmarschall raised his hands, as if to 
fon^e back between the speaker’s lips the announcement of so 
feaiful a fact. “ Such a mean, pitiful revenge taken upon one 
entirely unconcerned in provoking it can, of course, arouse 
only disgust; and you can think it worth while to make haste 
to break with your only relative, with everything that can 
give to your life, to your lonely future, an aim, a fitting 
dignity? And it must be done, too, on the instant, this very 
night, that you may early to-morrow morning announce your 
entire separation from the ‘ degraded wretch,’ and entreat, for 
God's sake, to be received again into the royal favour ? What 
loss is it to you ” 

“ What loss to me ?” the Hofmarschall almost shrieked. 
“ The loss of light to my eyes, of the breath of my life. I 
shall die if thbt — this fearful disgrace lasts for months only. 
What you may <hink of it is your own afi'air, — that is nothing 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


277 


to me.” Unable to stand upon bis feet a moment longer, he 
sank into the nearest arm-chair. 

Mainau turned his back on him in undisguised contempt. 
“ Then, indeed, there is nothing more for me to say,” he 
murmured, shrugging his shoulders. “ I thought I might 
appeal once more to your affection for Leo ” 

“ Aha 1 there you touch the sole consideration that induced 
me to seek you even this once. My grandchild, my only 
daughter’s child ” 

“ Is my son,” Mainau interrupted him, with perfect com- 
posure, looking him full in the face. ‘‘ Of course he remains 
with me.” 

“ On no account ! You can, of course^ carry him to Fran- 
conia, — I have no means of preventing that ; but before many 
months are over, you will learn what you do in thus inso- 
lently challenging those high both in temporal and in spiritual 
power.” 

“I should positively be frightened,” said Mainau, with an 
air of ironical contempt, “ if I were not sure of my ground. 
I know where you wish to apply the screw. Since I have 
given a Protestant mother to my child, who has been baptized 
in the Catholic Church, and, moreover, provided him with a 
tutor of liberal principles, the Church is justified in reclaiming, 
not to say rescuing, the soul consigned to her care. A father 
has, of course, no rights that can for one moment avail him in 
opposition to a papal decree. Who could attach the least im- 
portance to such a trifle, at a time when the final decrees of an 
earthly ruler, the edicts of the representatives of the people, are 
ignored at Rome as if they were but bubbles light as air ? I 
might range myself in the ranks of those now warring against 
priestly arrogance if I did not prefer to meet the black- 
frocked host single-handed, — let it come I” 

“ It will come, — rely upon that ! Your blasphemous oppo- 
sition will be chastised as it deserves, and as all the truly gooil 

24 


278 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


must desire that it should be,” the Hofmarschall cried, il 
uncontrollable irritation. “ Place your dependence upon youi 
intellect, upon the brain that you believe will carry you 
through, — -just there you will make a miserable fiasco ! Go 
to-morrow to ev^ry one connected with the court, — not one 
will grant that you were in possession of your wits to-night ! 
A man possessed of his five senses, with an unclouded 
brain ” 

“ ‘ Never carries his head erect, but bows it servilely and 
cringes to power,’ you would say ?” 

“ I say your words and acts, and your whole conduct, lately, 
have been so extraordinary that it is a case for medical inter- 
ference,” shrieked the old man, blind with fury. 

“ Aha ! That, then, is the breach through which temporal 
power is to advance upon me.” For one instant a deep pallor 
overspread his handsome countenance. He was very angry ; 
but, folding his arms upon his chest, he said, lightly, although 
in a cutting tone, “ I am surprised at you. It is hardly worthy 
of so experienced a diplomatist and courtier to betray the secret 
plan of his campaign. So, when the clerical battle has been 
happily concluded, the civil authority steps in and declares the 
man ‘ irresponsible,’ precisely because he has ofi'ered battle, and 
because an entire court, with her highness the duchess, of 
course, at its head, declares upon oath that he was out of his 
wits one evening.” 

The Hofmarschall arose. “ I must entreat you not to insult 
that noble lady in my presence,” he said, in his harshest voice. 
“ And I intentionally informed you of what you are pleased to 
call the secret plan of my campaign. I choose that you shall 
know it, because I hope to prevent matters from being driven 
to extremities ; because, as a Mainau, I feel it my duty to ward 
off as long as possible public scandal from our name. But 
for the sake of my departed child, strictly pious as she was, I 
cannot abate one iota of my demand, and therefore I ask you. 


THE SECOND WIFE. 279 

briefly and concisely, Will you voluntarily consign Leo to me, 
who have as sacred a claim upon him as your own ” 

He got no further. Mainau interrupted him with a clear, 
sudden burst of laughter. At this moment the young wife 
glided unnoticed into her dressing-room, and thence into the 
pillared corridor. She could not delay one instant longer. 
The Hofmarschall’s arrogant attitude showed but too plainly 
that he could rely upon powerful assistance to enforce his 
unjustifiable demand. Secure as he was of conquest, the 
wretched courtier with his murderous hands must be humili 
ated for the second time to-day, and this time it must be his 
own work. Her heart was aching with sympathy for Mainau. 
How she loved him, as he faced so boldly, in so manly a way, 
the unavoidable consequences of his affection for her ! 

She forgot that she had left her light cloak in the salon. 
She did not see how the little crowd of lackeys, whom the 
sound of angry voices had attracted to the vestibule, dispersed 
at the approach of the lovely figure who, with bare head and 
neck, swept out into the moonlight in her brilliant ball-dress. 

The Indian garden lay before her, as strange and weird be- 
neath the silvery moon as upon the first evening of her stay 
in Schbnwerth, — but what a contrast between now and then I 
And to-night the fabrics of years were crumbling beneath the 
strokes of a Nemesis, as the storm had felled the giant banana. 

The young wife’s fleet foot scarcely touched the ground. 
Her heavy train rustled strangely in the dead silence of the 
night. At the entrance of the path leading through the favor- 
ite retreat of the monkeys and parrots, she suddenly stayed 
her steps, — not because of any noise in the boughs above her, 
but because a heavy footfall upon the gravel struck her ear. 

“ Who is there?” she asked, cautiously retreating towards 
the gate. 

“The huntsman. Hammer, madame,” said an evidently em- 
barrassed voice. 


280 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


She breathed freely, and went on her way, as the young 
man passed her with a respectful bow and stationed himself 
by the entrance to the garden. A glance among the trees 
revealed the cause of the huntsman’s presence. There stood 
a pretty housemaid, who, blushing and hanging her head, 
curtsied to her mistress. The young people, whom the re- 
moval of the huntsman had separated for some time, were 
having a meeting here. The certainty that human beings 
were at hand seemed to take a weight from Liana’s mind. 

The door of the Indian cottage was closed. The stiff mats 
were hanging behind the windows, and the broken panes of 
glass had been replaced by boards. At Liana’s gentle knock, 
one of the mats was cautiously pulled a little aside, and im- 
mediately afterwards the door was noiselessly opened. 

“ I was afraid the priest would come,” Frau Lbhn whispered, 
as she slipped the bolt again. 

A white linen covering was spread over the dead. G-a- 
briel lay in an arm-chair, sunk in the profound slumber of 
exhaustion. The housekeeper had thrown a light coverlet 
around him, and his pale, thin face looked almost corpse-like 
against the dark cushions of the chair, thrown into strong 
relief as it was by the light of numerous wax candles in a 
silver candelabrum. 

“ A relic of old times, which I hid from the greedy grasp 
of the old man at the castle,” the housekeeper said, pointing 
to the magnificent candelabrum. “ The poor young creature 
has been the true mistress of Schbnwerth, and shall receive 
the last honours due to her.” 

With a gentle hand she drew down the covering from tiis 
corpse. The heart of the poor lotos-blossom throbbed no 
more, and yet the fresh water-lily upon her breast still seemed 
to rise and fall with that breast’s measured breathing. The 
pure white flowers were also scattered upon her dress and the 
pillows of her bed. 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


281 


Gabriel brought them,” said Frau Lbhn ; “ they were her 
Favourite flowers, and the poor fellow has formerly had many 
a blow from the gardener for taking them from the pond.” 

As she spoke, she gently raised the head from the pillow, 
and Liana with trembling hands took from the neck the 
golden chain and softly released the little silver book from the 
cold, dasping Angers, which no longer offered resistance. The 
young wife put the chain around her own neck, and the mys- 
terious amulet in her bosom. 

“To morrow !” she said, in a low voice, to Frau Lbhn, and 
left the house. A nameless dread, an inexplicable sensation, 
as if with the cold silver she had taken destruction to her 
bosom, made her heart seem to stand still. In vain she 
looked abroad over the rose-planted space around the cottage, 
in vain she held her breath and listened for a sign that 
some human being was near her. The huntsman and his 
sweetheart had doubtless left the garden, scared away by her 
presence there. She hesitated to descend the veranda-steps 
and proceed, and yet she was ashamed to knock again at the 
door which Frau Lbhn had bolted behind her, and request 
the housekeeper’s escort. She could delay no longer. She 
was to blame for every second of time that prolonged the 
unnatural conflict in which Mainau was engaged for the sake 
of his child. 

She flew down the steps and through the thicket of roses. 
There — ^there stood the terrible man whose vicinity she had 
divined, as the bird divines the presence of its mortal foej 
there stood the black flgure with its pale, haggard features, 
and the shaven spot in the midst of the dark masses of hair 
gleamed ghostlike, as he bowed his head in solemn greeting. 

For an instant, terror almost curdled Liana’s blood, — the 
next, an emotion of indignation, of anger, such as she had 
never known before, welled up within her, and this emotion 
conquered ; it made her hard and unsparing. Gathering her 
24 * 


282 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


skirts togetbar as if to avoid the slightest contact with the 
man, she turned aside, and would have passed on without 
heeding his greeting, but he planted himself in her path, and 
even ventured to lay his hand upon her bare arm to detain 
her. She paled to the very lips at his touch. Throwing off 
his hand with an energetic gesture, she took up the costly 
lace sleeve that hung from her shoulder, and rubbed it several 
times over the spot which his fingers had touched. 

“Pitiless still,” he almost groaned. “You come from a 
dying woman ” 

“ From a dead woman, sir priest, from one who died a 
heathen, and has therefore, as we Christians say, perished 
utterly, body and soul. Whether God really receives souls 
only from the hands of priests, forgers though they be, and 
stopping at no crime that can serve them as a stepping-stone 
to power, you must best know. Out of my path !” she said, 
with an air of stern command. “ I bow in reverence before 
an honest declarer of Christianity, and thank God there are 
still such among us ! But you have revealed to me your 
own baseness ; there is not a trace of sanctity about you, and 
I am not surprised at such rant as that which I have just 
heard from your priestly lips. Let me pass I” 

“ Why this haste ?” he asked, scornfully. “ You will cer- 
tainly be in time to witness the completion of the irreparable 
breach between the uncle and the nephew, to see the interest- 
ing Baron von Mainau divest himself of all former ties and 
associations in order to belong entirely — to you!” He had 
been listening again by the columns outside of the glass door, 
and had followed her as upon that first night. She succeeded 
in passing him, and was walking hurriedly around the grassy 
circumference of the pond, while he kept by her side. “Yes, 
madame, to you alone 1” he continued, ironically. “ Your 
threat of yesterday to leave him doubtless brought him to your 
feet. How and when ? I would give my right hand to know 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


283 


that. But I saw the triumph upon your lovely face in the 
concert-salon to night. You are proud of your conquest, — 
how long will that pride last? ‘ The butterfly must fly !’ the 
duchess said ; the brilliant insect must fly, I say too, that the 
world may admire the play of colour upon its wings. I give 
you one year of your dreamed-of bliss, — not a day longer.” 

“Well, then, so be it!” she replied, with head erect and 
flashing eyes. In involuntary avoidance of the priest’s en- 
croaching approach, she was walking on the verge of the little 
lake. She paused, clasped her hands fervently upon her breast, 
and her lovely face, illumined by the moonlight, glowed with 
ecstasy. One single year! but a year of unimagined delight ! 
I love him, I shall love him to all eternity, and will gratefully 
accept at his hands this year of a return of my afiection !” 

A half-stifled cry, as if wrung from the depths of despair 
and fury, burst from the lips of the man beside her. 

“ You belie yourself,” he gasped, “ in your desire to pro- 
pitiate your Trachenberg pride by bringing this man for one 
moment to your feet. You cannot love him who has so re- 
peatedly in my presence and in that of others treated you with 
cool neglect, who has shown the whole world that he did not 
care even to approach you ; he has insulted you as shame- 
fully as man can insult woman, — and you have not felt it ? 
Has it not embittered you, and does it not even at this moment 
flush your cheek with the glow of outraged pride ? Look down 
into that clear mirror.” And he pointed to the transparent 
flood that gleamed at her very feet. “ Look down into your 
own eyes. You cannot declare that in exchange for a whim- 
sical and fleeting fancy on his part you can yield him the 
treasure of your love.” 

She did, indeed, look aside and down into the water, in 
nameless dread of the wild fire in his eyes. 

“ You love this little lake, fair lady,” he said, m a strange, 
suppressed voice, as if telling of some secret. “ You hav*» 


284 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


sliown me how you prefer its gentle waves to my touch 
Look how alluringly they gleam and ripple !” 

In utter terror she started and looked him full in the face. 

“ Do you fear me?” he asked, with a sardonic smile. “ I 
ask for nothing hut that, in full view of this clear, pure mirror, 
you should declare that you are not so filled with love for 
him and with aversion to me as you would persuade me.” 

She summoned up all the force of her will, all her courage. 

What insolence ! What right have you to demand any 
declaration from me ? I am a Protestant ; you are not my 
confessor. I am mistress of Schbn worth, and you are its guest; 
I am a woman whose word is sacred, and you are a perjured 
priest. I might simply pass you proudly by ; but, since you 
take an attitude of menace in my presence, you shall know 
that I do not fear you, that I despise you from the bottom of 
my soul, if only because you would so coarsely attack and 
desecrate the first and only love of a woman’s heart !” 

She would have proceeded upon her way, but two arms 
clasped her. “ If I may not, he shall not,” was muttered 
in her ear. She would have screamed, but hot lips were 
pressed to her own, and the slender, girlish figure was hurled 
headlong into the deep waters of the pond. A fearful shriek 
rang through the air ; hut it did not come from Liana. The 
house-maid came rushing from the leafy walk, and the hunts- 
man followed close at her heels. “We saw it all, wretched 
murderer that you are!” she screamed, madly, trying with 
outspread arms to bar the way of the priest. “ Help 1 help I 
Hold him 1” But with one desperate efibrt the frenzied man 
thrust her from his path, and vanished in the thicket. 

Meanwhile, the huntsman had reached the pond and torn 
iff his coat. The shore at this place was not swampy or 
moist ; at its edge it descended precipitately into the treach- 
erous depths, that were as transparent and smooth as in the 
centre of the lake. At first the waves had closed over the 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


285 


form hurled into them, but then — and it was a supernaturally 
beautiful sight — the stiff silver brocade rose to the surface; 
it did not absorb the water, but spread out upon it like glitter^ 
ing swan’s-down, and the drenched head with the gleaming 
jewels in the hair appeared for a moment, while the white 
arms were tossed aloft in the empty air, seeking some stay 
+here, and a faint cry for help came from the pale lips. 

The huntsman was a good swimmer; but the force of the 
priest’s arm had sent the slender figure far out into the pond. 
Nevertheless, he succeeded in grasping one of her arms just 
as she was about to sink again; he drew her towards him, 
and slowly but surely swam with his burden towards the 
shore. He had not reached it before the garden seemed fairly 
ilive with the castle servants, hurrying hither from all diiec- 
tions. The desperate screams, the calls for help of the house- 
maid, had been heard in the Indian cottage as well as in the 
vestibule of the castle. Frau Lohn came hurrying through 
the rose-thicket as her mistress was about to sink again ; and 
then, as the huntsman neared the shore, the footmen from the 
castle arrived, just in time to draw the half-unconscious Liaii» 
up on the grassy bank. 


’.86 


THE SECOND WIFE 


CHAPTER XXVIL 

Frau Lohn kneeled upon the sod and received the young 
wife in her arms, weeping and exclaiming, as the house-maid, 
in a hoarse, broken whisper, told the horrified people of what 
had happened. The girl had taken off her clean white muslin 
apron, and with it was gently drying the dripping brow and 
shoulders of her mistress. Her touch and the loud lamen- 
tations of the housekeeper quickly restored Liana to entire 
consciousness. “Hush, hush, Frau Lbhn!” she whispered, 
sitting upright ; “ your master must not be alarmed.” With 
a charming smile she held out her hand to her preserver, and 
then arose and stood upon her feet; The trees seemed to 
totter before her eyes, as if shaken by some strong blast, and 
the ground beneath her feet trembled and wavered, — it was as 
if she were walking in a palpable mist; but she went on firmly, 
and her hand sought the chain at her neck, — it was still there, 
— the precious amulet had not been left in the depths of the 
lake. 

With every step the dizziness that so confused her head de- 
creased ; she walked more quickly, only turning now and then 
to lay her finger upon her lip, when some indignant exclama- 
tion burst from the people following her. 

In the vestibule the rest of the servants were collected. 
All knew that something terrible had happened; but they 
knew not what or where. The footmen had vanished from 
their posts, and distant screams and cries had been heard in 
the kitchen and passages, while the Hofmarschall’s coachman 
declared, in great agitation, that he had seen his reverence rush 
madly across the gravelled sweep, his arms extended like a 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


287 


aaniac’s, and disappear behind the north wing. Meanwhile, 
from madaoe’s apartments the harsh voice of the Hofmar- 
schall still sounded, nov/ and then interrupted by a warning 
or menacing exclamation from the young master. 

Suddenly Liana appeared upon the threshold of the vesti- 
bule, and passed through the terrified assemblage, her face 
bloodless and rigid as if modelled in wax, while from her 
long braids the water dripped down over the silver folds of 
her dress, that shook it off like rolling pearls, and the long 
train left a broad wet trail upon the mosaic pavement of the 
hall. She might have been a phantom Undine from the 
depths of the lake, come to bear thither some mortal lover. 

She vanished in the pillared corridor, and Hanna flew after 
her to her dressing-room ; the girl’s hair bristled with horror, 
for she had just caught a whisper of what the footmen were 
telling their fellow-servants, and she heard exclamations of 
rage and indignation from those she left as she hurried away. 

In trembling haste her young mistress changed her dress. 
She did not speak, but her teeth chattered audibly, as if with 
the chill of fever. Through the closed door of the adjoining 
apartment the croaking voice of the Hofmarschall sounded 
incessantly ; every syllable could be plainly heard. He was 
revelling in abuse of his dead brothers, and of the “vaga- 
bond life ” that they had led. He recalled the most distant 
past, to show to what a succession of trials and difficulties he, 
the only genuine scion of his ancestors, the one who alone 
had known how to maintain the true lustre and principles of 
their noble name, had been exposed. He laughed to scorn 
every menacing exclamation of Mainau’s, every admonition 
to self-control from the nephew, who paced the room inces- 
santly in great agitation of mind, and who to-morrow must 
leave Schunwerth, for, although both possessed an equal claim 
upon the estate, their common occupation of it after all the 
insults heaped upon one of them by the other’s evil tongue 


288 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


would be impossible — nay, they could never again even breathe 
the same air. And that the Herr Hofmarschall, the pride of 
the house of Mainau, should vacate the field, was not to be 
thought of 

Hanna partly dried her mistress’s braids, and, in her haste, 
put on her a black dress — shuddering then at the effect she 
had produced. In the deep black. Liana looked so bloodless, 
so ashy pale. 

“Madame, not there!” she anxiously entreated, involun- 
tarily detaining the young wife as she walked towards the 
door of the salon ; hot, tremulous fingers repulsed the detain- 
ing hand, and pointed towards the door leading into the cor- 
ridor. The waiting-maid went out, and heard the bolt shot 
behind her. 

“You cannot deny that Leo already shows decided traces 
of this vagabond blood I He often, to my despair, gives evi- 
dence of that degree of ‘cAic’ — ^genius, if you please — that 
has been the curse of our once respectable family,” the Hof- 
marschall was saying. “Nothing but strict training in the 
fear of Grod can save him; I repeat, he needs his grandfather’s 
iron hand, — and he shall have it, as truly as I hope for mercy 
from above. Carry your paternal claims into whatever court 
you please. Leo is mine. Besides, there will be some con- 
solation for you in your adopted son Gabriel 1” 

The folding-doors were thrown open, and Liana entered the 
salon and stood opposite the arm-chair in which sat the old 
man laughing scornfully. 

“Gabriel’s mother is dead,” she said, advancing slowly. 

“To hell with her!” shrieked the Hofmarschall, in a fury. 

“She had a soul, as you have, and God is merciful!” cried 
Liana. The blood returned to her cheeks. “You are a strict 
believer, Herr Hofmarschall, and know that He is an incor- 
ruptible iudge. Throw into the scale, if you choose, ‘ the well- 
maintained’ lustre of your noble name, the strict discharge of 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


289 


the duties of your rank, they will still weigh too lightly. 
Where a judge is to decide, there must be an accuser ; and 
she is already in His presence, pointing to the finger-marks 
upon her throat.” 

The Hofinarschall had at first leaned forward with ironical 
courtesy and regarded the speaker with a smile of infinite 
malice. At her last words he sank back, and, as his jaw 
fell in speechless terror, he looked as if the hand of death 
had already touched him. Mainau, who, upon Liana’s en- 
trance, had been standing at the other end of the salon, now 
approached her. He seemed scarcely to have heard what she 
had said ; at the sight of the strangely-altered appearance of 
his young wife, he forgot the desperate battle he had been 
fighting for his child, the mighty rage that had possessed him. 
He put his arm around her, and drew her towards the light ; 
he would have bent back her face to see it more clearly, and 
he laid his hand upon the top of her head to do so, but started 
back in alarm. 

“ What is this ?” he exclaimed. “Your hair is dripping 
wet. What has happened to you. Liana? I must know.” 

“Madame is illP^ the Hofmarschall cried, in a monotone, 
pointing with a significant gesture to his forehead. “ I saw 
that at once, in her overstrained theatrical bearing, and her 
last words confirm the belief that the lady is suffering from 
some nervous affection, not to say hallucination. Send for 
a physician !” 

Liana turned from him with a smile of cold contempt and 
seized Hainan’s hand. “You shall learn all — later, Raoul ; 
I told you before to-day that I had sad revelations to make to 
you. The dead woman in the Indian cottage ” 

“ Aha 1 here is the same apparition again !” And the Hof- 
marschall laughed aloud. “Where did you see the phantom, 
madame ?” 

“ Before the door of the red room, Herr Hofmarschall. A 
T 25 


290 


THE SECOND WIFE 


man clasped his fingers about the slender throat of the poor 
Bayadere, and clutched it so close that she sank down as if 
dead upon the fioor.” 

“ Liana !” cried Mainau, in a tone of passionate anguish. 
He drew her towards him and laid her head soothingly upon 
his breast ; he could more easily believe in a sudden disturb- 
nce of the mental faculties of this treasure of his heart than 
in the commission of a murderous assault by one of his name. 

The Hofmarschall arose at the same moment. “I am 
going, — I never could endure the sight of the insane.” He 
said this with intense aversion in his voice and manne^?', but 
he could not stand alone, and clutched with an unsteady hand 
at the arm of the chair. 

“ Be calm, Baoul ! I will prove to you that I am not 
insane,” said Liana. She extricated herself from his arm^ 
and approached the old man. 

Liana’s lovely face, with its delicate features, seemed petri- 
fied in hard resolve. “Herr Hofmarschall,” she continued, 
“the man pursued the lovely Indian at night through the 
gardens to steal her from the dying occupant of the red room. 
She was obliged to fiee from him behind bolt and bar. Look 
there, Raoul,” she interrupted herself, and pointed to the 
Hofmarschall, who sat bowed together as if annihilated. 
“ Herr von Mainau proposes to take your child from you be- 
cause the only honourahle^ unstained man of your family is 
alone fitted to be the guide of its youngest member ; but his 
hand has gone nigh to crush a human life, and the intrigue by 
which Gabriel and his mother have been rendered outcaate 
leaves an ineradicable blot upon the ‘lustre’ of his nobility. 
You may rest assured that the charge of Leo will never be 
accorded to him.” 

If she thought the guilty man was entirely crushed by the 
weight of her accusations and the reproaches of his suddenly- 
awakened conscience, she was in error. Even as she pointed 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


291 


towards him, he managed to sit upright; as she alluded to 
Q-abriel and his mother, he nodded his head as if amused ; 
and now he burst into a laugh. 

This picture of my crimes is very cleverly drawn, madame. 
I always said your red-haired women were the very devil foi 
a coolly-devised plot. The whole matter is so deucedly well 
gotten up, — and such an effect to be produced by that black 
dress, thrown on in such a hurry — ^by the way, it makes you 
as pale and ugly as a ghost ” 

“Not one word morel” cried Mainau, angrily pointing 
towards the door. 

“ Gently, gently ; I shall go when I see fit. But I am now 
the accused, and owe it to myself to throw some light upon 
this matter. I can easily understand what has suddenly made 
you so arrogant, so insolent towards me, madame. While we 
were disputing here you slipped away, prompted by a pardon- 
able curiosity to see the ‘ unfortunate woman’ die. There is 
in such scenes a pleasurable nervous excitement; they gratify 
that love of the horrible, the diabolic, that is inherent in ' 
feminine ” 

“I entreat you, Raoul, to do nothing that you will repent 
of!” cried Liana, throwing her arms around Mainau, who 
was about to rush towards the evil-tongued speaker. 

“ In feminine nature,” the old man repeated, with a mali- 
cious smile, as Mainau, stamping his foot angrily, turned his 
back upon him. “It is possible that the palsied tongue of 
the ‘poor Bayadere’ recovered just before death — such things 
have happened — sufficient power to babble strange, delirious 
sentences. But what intelligent person would attach any im- 
portance to such mutterings, or torture them into an assault 
upon an honourable name? You could not impose upon any 
of my equals with such a tale. They know me, and would 

simply maintain that my son-in-law’s second wife is a wily 
>> 


woman. 


292 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


“ Proceed, Liana ! I am afraid that these same ‘ equals’ will 
hear of matters strangely at variance with our ideas of aristo- 
cratic honour,” said Mainau. “ But speak to me ! You hear 
that the Herr Hofmarschall has no interest in the affair, yet 
I am stretched upon the rack.” 

“ The woman in the Indian cottage was dead when I reached 
there. For thirteen years no intelligible word had passed her 
lips, and thus she died,” replied the young wife, p?iusing for 
one moment and closing her eyes as a sudden dizziness over- 
powered her. “ What I have to tell I have learned from a 
witness who has been living at Schonwerth ever since Gisbert 
von Hainan’s return from India, — a witness who spins no 
falsehoods, but knows that, if necessary, the testimony given 
must be repeated under oath.” She spoke to Mainau, as if 
the man who sat there with an eager dread — disguise it as 
he might — in his face had really left the room. She told 
how he, assisted by the priest, had made himself master in 
Schonwerth, and with what refined cruelty he had separated 
Gisbert from the woman whom he had loved to the last 
moment of his life. From time to time she heard from the 
arm-chair a contemptuous titter or a muttered curse, but she 
did not heed it. She paused only when she mentioned, for 
the first time in her narrative, Frau Ldhn’s name, for the 
Hofmarschall interrupted her with a mixture of rage and 
shrill scorn in his voice. “ The brute ! the serpent ! Is she 
your informer, madame? You have been gossiping with the 
lowest and rudest servant at Schonwerth, and would allow 
what she says to attach my honour?” 

“ Go on. Liana !” Mainau insisted. “ Do not he deterred. 
I see it all only too clearly.” 

“ Deny as you may all these, assertions of Lbhn’s, upon the 
ground of the strict watch that you kept over all that toot 
place at Schonwerth, there is one thing that you cannot dis- 
pute, for you have no idea that it exists.” Liana addressed 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


293 


the Hofinaxschall. “ In spite of your watchfulness, the Indian 
saw your brother Grisbert a few days before his death, and he 
died in the full conviction that she had been foully slandered.” 

“ Bah ! now you lay on the colouring too thickly, my dear 
little lady ; you ought to know that you thus deprive all that 
you say of the faintest credibility,” replied the old man, with 
\ well-feigned assumption of scornful indifference, although 
his voice sounded as if coming from a parched and dry throat. 
“ Most certainly I know nothing of this touching scene, — how 
should I ? It will be found, like much else, to be a pure in- 
vention. And I really cannot see why I should, with such 
lamb-like patience, await the further development of this care- 
fully-spun intrigue. I am always to be found in my apart- 
ments by the officers of justice, whom you would so amiably 
put upon my track. Now go to sleep, madame ; you are terribly 
pale, and do not seem to me quite steady upon your feet ; yes, 
yes, I have been told that composing narratives is very fatiguing. 
Good-night, my fair foe.” 

“ One moment, uncle!” Mainau cried, interposing between 
the Hofmarschall and the door. “ For hours I have listened 
with incredible patience and forbearance to your abuse of my- 
self and my family; now I require that in my presence you 
should hear the conclusion of these revelations, if you would 
not lose all claim in my eyes to the honour of a gentleman.” 

Poltroon 1” muttered the old man between his teeth, and 
threw himself back in his chair. 

The young wife related the occurrence beside Gisbert’s 
death-bed. There was profound silence in the room, but when 
she described how the dying man had carefully added the two 
seals to his signature, both her hearers started. 

“ Lies 1 infamous lies 1” cried the Hofmarschall. 

“ Ah 1” cried Mainau, as if a sudden light had broken in 
upon him. “ Uncle, the duchess and her maid of honour can 
testify .hat they have seen the seal ring which you casually 
25* 


294 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


mentioned had been solemnly presented to you by Uncla 
Gisbert, before witnesses, on the tenth of September. And the 
paper which he thus endeavoured to render in some measur.- 
legal, is it still in existence. Liana?” 

With trembling fingers she took the chain from her neck 
and put it into his hand. 

The little trinket was as it were welded together : no trace 
of any means of opening it to be discovered. Mainau inserted 
the thick blade of his pocket-knife beneath the thin cover, 
which, as he attempted thus to lift it, broke. Loosely folded 
together, but yet so that the end of the box had preserved 
intact the two seals, a paper lay within the little receptacle, 
just as the Indian had laid it there fresh from her passionate 
kisses. 

“ These impressions, guarded as they have been, carry as 
much weight for me as for you, uncle ; and I have heard you 
declare that such an impression was worth more to you than 
an original signature.” 

Not a word, not a sound, was heard in reply. 

“ The apparent defects in the stone are plainly to be dis- 
cerned now. To-morrow by daylight, beneath the magnifying- 
glass, we shall be able to admire the finely-cut head. And here 
IS the date, underscored twice, ‘ Written in Schbnwerth the 
tenth of September.’ ” 

For one moment he was much moved, and passed his hands 
across his eyes before opening the paper. “ Addressed to me ? 
To me?” he exclaimed, in agitation. He stepped up to the 
lamp and read the contents aloud. 

The dying man first declared that, in consequence of his 
mental and physical infirmity, he was the prisoner of his 
brother and the priest. Although deluded by the idea that 
his love had been faithless to him, he had been desirous of 
making a testamentary provision in her favour ; but everything 
had been done to prevent this. Even his physician had been 


THE SECOND WIF±j. 


295 


bribed to ignore, as the ravings of delirium, his entreaty for 
a lawyer. At such moments every one about him had en- 
deavoured to depict to him in the blackest colours the poor 
Indian’s infidelity and moral degradation; and he, weakened 
as he was in intellect, and often a prey to terrible hallucina- 
tions, had given credence to what had been told him. Now, 
however, he knew how vilely he had been deceived. He 
knew that a son had been born to him, of whose existence he 
had until now never been informed. He knew further that 
his brother had persecuted the wife of his bosom with his 
unworthy passion, and that he would leave no stone unturned 
to defraud her of even the smallest inheritance and to gain 
entire possession of her. Among all the scoundrels who had 
thus fettered his will, there did not seem to be one capable of 
a sentiment of compassion ; but in this hour of supreme deso- 
lation he remembered his young nephew, with his “ whimsi- 
cal hot head, but magnanimous heart.” In view of his own 
death, which might now take place at any moment, he turned 
to him with his last request. He held it to be his duty to 
declare that the Indian was innocent of all stain whatsoever, 
and had never been a Bayadere before belonging to him. He 
acknowledged little Gabriel as his son, and conjured his 
nephew to protect the two persecuted unfortunates, and to see 
that they inherited the third part of his estates and that his 
boy bore the family name of his father. Frau Lbhn, faithful 
soul, was to deliver the paper to his nephew with her own 
hands, and he would attest its authenticity by committing the 
ring with which he affixed the seals to it to the “ faithless” 
hands of his “ degenerate” brother. 

“ A most flattering description the vagabond has given of 
me ! This is his thanks for my unwearied care of him, my 
sleepless nights !” the Hofmarschall said ; and, as he arose, 
his features twitched nervously, whilst Mainau put the paper 
into his breast-pocket. “ He was utterly worthless, to th# 


296 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


last breath that he drew ; those women’s lying tongues swayed 
him like a willow wand. Bah ! I am vexed at having been the 
dupe of such a creature as that Lohn.” ' 

Mainau retreated from the speaker, making it evident that 
he now considered every tie dissolved between himself and 
the “ most honourable and respectable member of the family.” 

“ Shall I, as Gisbert von Mainau’s executor, lay this before 
the court to-morrow?” he asked, lightly touching his breast- 
pocket. 

“ Eh, — we will consider the matter. There are other docu- 
ments extant. We shall see who will come off victorious, — 
you with that scrap, or the Church with the paper in the 
cabinet of curiosities. The court chaplain must be sum- 
moned, — rather a different sort of witness from Frau Lbhn, 
the housekeeper. Hm 1 I rather think the wonderful piece 
of penmanship that you cherish so fondly will give you more 
of a headache than you imagine. Meanwhile, you had better 
look to the lady. The miserable intrigue to which she has so 
deftly and willingly lent herself seems to have agitated her.” 

Whilst Mainau was reading. Liana had shivered with a 
nervous chill. A crimson floating mist seemed to All the 
room, hideously distorting with its waving clouds the coun- 
tenance of the Hofmarschall, as he sat opposite her. Now 
profound icy night encompassed her. Forcing a feeble smile, 
she extended both hands towards where Mainau was standing, 
and, as he caught her in his arms, with a low cry, she fainted. 
Five minutes later a carriage drove furiously towards the town, 
to bring a physician to the bedside of the mistress of Schon 
werth, who was dangerously ill. 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


297 


CHAPTER XXVIIL 

The lovely sunny autumn days glided by in the Schonwerth 
valley. The mild, warm breeze was heavy with the fragrance 
of beds of mignonette, and wild grapes hung their purple 
clusters on the gray walls of the tower and around the clus- 
tered pillars of the columned walk. 

The blue curtains were drawn close behind two windows 
upon the ground-floor of the castle. One of these windows 
was open, and the odorous afternoon breeze stirred the heavy 
silken folds ; and now and then they were drawn aside for a 
moment, as if by the wayward hand of a child. A fiery sun- 
beam would then penetrate the blue twilight and awaken 
glittering reflections on the mass of ruddy golden hair within, 
lying loose upon the white coverlet of the bed. For weeks 
there had been a struggle between life and death for the pos- 
session of the girlish form lying there ; but since yesterday 
the physicians had been hopeful, and now, just as a sunbeam 
“ slid, a sunny fleck,” down upon the gently-heaving breast, 
the dark eyelashes were raised, and the first glance of return- 
ing consciousness dawned in the veiled eyes. It fell upon the 
man who sat at the foot of the bed, where he had been stationed 
ever since he had laid his fainting wife upon her couch of pain. 
For the first time in his hitherto careless existence, he had 
gone through every stage of that indescribable agony by the 
sick-bed of one whom we love, which leads us to long for 
death, since every nerve is on the rack, and the future, when 
the sufierer whom we watch shall be no more, seems a lon^ 
cruel night. 


298 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


“Ka)ul!” Who would have imagined when in the Rudis- 
dorf chapel he heard with such supreme indifference those 
lips pronounce the “ yes,” that in a short time a whispered 
word from them would so intoxicate him with delight ? He 
took the little hand in his and covered it with kisses, then 
Jaid his finger on his lips. Her eyes wandered smilingly from 
his face, and opened wide in amazement. Advancing from 
the table, a tumbler of cooling drink in her hand, the red- 
haired, unlovely lady whom we have seen in Rudisdorf 
approached the bed — Ulrika. Mainau had telegraphed for 
her on the terrible night when Liana was taken ill. She had 
been his stay and support, the homely girl with her clear 
wise head and her heart full of self-sacrificing maternal love 
for his young wife. No hand but hers had ministered to 
Liana, and her ministry had been indeed a labour of love. 

Each by a gesture imposed silence upon the invalid, but 
she smiled, and whispered, “ How is my child ?” 

“ Leo is well,” said Mainau. “ He has written half a dozen 
tender letters a day to his sick mamma, — they lie there in a 
pile.” 

“ And Gabriel ?” 

Lives in the castle. His room adjoins the tutor’s, and he 
is eagerly hoping for the time when he may be admitted to 
kiss the hand of his lovely advocate.” 

The eyes drooped slowly, and the invahd fell into a deep 
and refreshing slumber. 

Eight days later she slowly walked through her rooms, for 
the first time, upon Mainau’s arm. It was the last day of 
September, and the vault of the summer sky was still blue 
and clear ; it was only now and then that a yellowing leaf 
fluttered to the ground. The rose-thicket was still blossom- 
ing profusely, and the green of the velvet lawn was spring- 
like in hue. The world without was as lovely as if no icj 
winter were at hand. 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


299 


The young wife paused in her salon opposite the glass door 

Ah, Raoul, how divine it is to live, and ” 

“ And, Liana?” 

“ And to love,” she said, nestling close to him. But as she 
epoke she shuddered, as she listened with terror in her eyes to 
the rolling of wheels outside the room. 

“Leo is driving his goats through the hall,” Mainau said, 
sx)thingly. “ Rest assured, the wheeled chair, that was always 
pursuing you in your delirium, has long since vanished from 
Schdnwerth.” It was the first time that he had referred to 
what had happened. He bit his lips. “ I owe you an explana- 
tion ; I should set your mind at rest. Liana, and the physician 
has granted his permission ; but I can no more speak of it all 
than I can enter the Indian garden where such wretched 
scenes were enacted. Ulrika, our prudent, sensible sister, will 
tell you in your blue boudoir everything that you must desire 
and ought to know.” 

Again she lay upon her lounge beneath the blue satin ceil- 
ing. Enough of evil for a lifetime lay between this hour and 
the moment of her first entrance into this little blue boudoir, 
and yet but a few months had elapsed. But no link in the 
chain could have been missed that had bound together two 
beings at first so coldly indifferent to each other. She could 
not yet look boldly back upon the past, she did not know what 
had followed upon that last moment of consciousness, in which 
she had been aware of the Hofmarschall confronting Mainau 
in unbroken arrogance and impertinent malice. That picture 
was graven upon her soul, — present to her like the ineradicable 
jessamine perfume, that was wafted towards her from time to 
time, as if by the phantom hand of the “ airy, lace-woven 
soul,” fi-om out the shining blue folds of the satin ; it made 
her restless. 

Ulrika sat beside her. Frau Lbhn entered, with a basket 
of grapes that Mainau had cut for the ladies. “ From the 


500 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


Herr Hofmarschall’s special trellis,” she said. '“They are the 
best grapes in the garden ; he always used to send the finest 
to the duchess, and the rest were — sold: even little Baron 
Leo was not allowed to have one.” 

She had evidently received instructions from Mainau thus 
to allude to former arrangements ; it had not been done before 
ic Liana’s presence. 

“ When did the Herr Hofmarschall leave Schbnwerth ?” 
asked Liana. 

“ The very next morning, madame. He came through the 
pillared corridor that night, crosser than I had ever seen him. 
I knew where the shoe pinched. We were all standing in 
the hall. ‘ What are you all gaping and staring at, the whole 
rabble of you ? Go to his reverence,’ he said to Anton, ‘ and 
beg him to come immediately to my room.’ Anton stood 
stock still, and all the rest vanished. ‘ What is the matter ?’ 
he asked ; and then the fellow told him what had happened, 
and that he could not go for his reverence, for he had gone 
away. I was standing beneath the stairs. To my dying day 
I never shall forget that moment; Anton had to carry him up- 
stairs. He did not go to bed ; the night was spent in packing 
up ; once or twice he went and peeped into his reverence’s 
room, as if he thought the priest must be there, and the next 
morning, at seven o’clock, he left the castle.” 

“ He is a worthless man, this Herr Hofmarschall,” said Ulrika, 
whilst Frau Lbhn took some of the grapes out to where Leo 
was still driving his goats up and down the gravelled path. 
Gabriel was playing passenger in the little carriage. “ He did 
not take leave of his grandchild : he must have forgotten him. 
A few days afterwards he gave some signs of life, in claiming 
through his lawyer a third of Gisbert’s estate. Schbnwerth 
is to be sold; Mainau wishes never to see it again, after he 
has once left*it. Even a glimmer of the pond in the distance 
agitates him. He will not go immediately to Franconia^ 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


301 


however, but will postpone for awhile that supervision of hia 
estates which he has determined to undertake for the future. 
Do you know, darling, where you will light the Christmas- 
tree this year? In the white salon at Rudisdorf, where papa 
always had it placed for us. Mainau has rented the castle and 
the park from the creditors, and you are to grow strong and 
well there. I shall go first, to arrange everything; the new 
furniture is all ordered. Magnus writes me that old Lena is 
quite distracted with joy to think that the ‘fine old times’ are 
coming again. We shall not have mamma with us, however. 
She is just as happy as Lena since Mainau gave her her choice 
whether to be at Rudisdorf or to spend the winter in Dresden. 
Of course she did not hesitate for a moment, and will only 
remain in Rudisdorf long enough to receive your husband and 
yourself, and then, as she writes me, a ray of sunlight will 
once more illumine her ‘forlorn and lonely path.’ This is a 
matter of opinion, of course, my child. Frau Lohn goes with 
us — Mainau cannot spare so faithful a servant; and, besides, 
he did not wish to separate her from Gabriel, who, after a course 
of study with the tutor, is to be sent, as Herr von Mainau, to 
Diisseldorf, to pursue his artistic studies there. Your pre- 
server, the huntsman Dammer, is, chief forester at Wolkers- 
hausen, whither he will shortly carry his pretty little bride. 
I think this is all that I am to tell you, in accordance with the 
request of your lord and master, who flatters himself that he 
has arranged matters to please you. You know, dear, I am 
not prone to raptures ; and yet I could chant a perpetual hymn 
of praise when I see how my darling is loved. And what do 
you think of the fact that I, Ulrika, Countess of Trachenberg, 
have rented the huge hostelry at Rudisdorf, for myself, from 
the creditors, and am about to convert it into an extensive 
flower-manufactory ? Mainau approves my undertaking, and 
has loaned me the capital to make it possible, trusting, as I 
do, that I shall succeed’ in redeeming, at least in part, by my 

26 


THE SECOND WIFE. 


50 ^ 




sxertions, what lavish extravagance and folly lost to ua 
3-od give me strength for my task !” 

She was silent; and Liana lay back with closed eyes, hei 
hands clasped on her breast, her lips wreathed in a happy 
smile, scarcely breathing, as if even her lightest sigh might 
disperse all these lovely pictures of the future. Suddenly a 
shade passed over her brow, and she started. “ The priest, 
Ulrika!” she exclaimed. 

“ He has vanished without a trace. It is thought he has 
sought the shelter of the cloister. He can do you no harm, 
rest assured. He will never venture to appear in public again ; 
the affair has made so much talk, and the Protestant inhab- 
itants of the capital are so exasperated, that his patroness the 
duchess, has judged it wise to retire to Meran for awhile, to 
benefit ‘an attack of weakness of the chest.’” 

Mainau entered, followed by the two boys. 

“Raoul, how can I thank you I” cried his young wife. 

He laughed, and sat down beside her. “ You thank me? 
Nonsense! Like an honest and incorrigible egotist, I have 
arranged everything to conduce to my own future happiness. 
The fulfilment of all these heavenly dreams of mine, however, 
rests solely with my second wife'' 


7E1 XHIK 




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